USA Swimming 2009-2010 USA Swimming Grand Prix Swim Meet Series

The 2009-2010 USA Swimming Grand Prix Swim Meet Series will kick off in Minneapolis on November 13 and will feature a total of eight swim meets throughout the USA, an increase of two swim meets from the 2008-2009 Grand Prix Series. The top swimmers in the USA will be back in the pool competing for a $20,000 Grand Prix Swim Meet prize purse that will be awarded to the swimmer with the most points at the conclusion of the Grand Prix Swim Meet Series.

The 2009-2010 USA Swimming Grand Prix Series will feature stops in Minneapolis, Long Beach, Columbia, Austin, Charlotte, and Santa Clara. Two new meets have been added to this year's schedule and will take place in Columbus and Los Angeles. The $20,000 prize will be awarded at the final stop of the series in Los Angeles on July 11, 2010.

This is the third year in a row that prize money has been awarded to the overall point leader of the Grand Prix Series. In its inaugural year, Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps took home the prize, while last year's purse went to National Team swimmer Mary DeScenza.

The scoring system awards swimmers points based on gold, silver and bronze-medal performances at each of the eight meets. A gold medal earns a swimmer five points, a silver medal is worth three points and a bronze medal is one point. The standings integrate male and female participants, recognizing the swimmer with the highest cumulative point total. In the event of a tie, the winner will be the swimmer who earned the highest single-race FINA power point ranking. Leaders will be tracked online at www.usaswimming.org and in Splash magazine, the official magazine of USA Swimming.

Online coverage of all 2009-2010 USA Swimming Grand Prix events will be provided by www.Swimnetwork.com, including live webcasts from select events. The USA Swimming Grand Prix Series allows fans across the country the opportunity to see their favorite swimmers in action.

2009-2010 USA Swimming Grand Prix Series

1. Nov 13-15, 2009 Minnesota Grand Prix Swim Meet, Minneapolis, MN.
2. Jan 15-18, 2010 Southern California Grand Prix Swim Meet, Long Beach, CA
3. Feb 12-15, 2010 Missouri Grand Prix Swim Meet, Columbia, MO
4. Mar 4-6, 2010 Austin Grand Prix Swim Meet, Austin, TX
5. Apr 1-3, 2010 The Ohio State University Grand Prix Swim Meet, Columbus, OH
6. May 13-16, 2010 Charlotte UltraSwim Grand Prix Swim Meet, Charlotte, NC
7. Jun 17-20, 2010 Santa Clara International Grand Prix Swim Meet, Santa Clara, CA
8. Jul 8-11, 2010 Janet Evans Invitational Grand Prix Swim Meet, Los Angeles, CA