In route to her fifth gold medal, Descenza bolted out to the front and never let up in the women's 200y backstroke. She won the event in a time of 1:56.83. Katharine Anton (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) touched in nearly four seconds later at 2:01.12, while University of Minnesota swimmer Deidre DeWall (Freeport, Ill.) was third in 2:02.46.
Later in the meet, Descenza secured her sixth and final gold medal in the women's 200y butterfly in a time of 1:57.06. Molly Belk (Minneapolis, Minn.) hit the wall next in 2:00.98. Katie Kastes (Palm Harbor, Fla.) completed the medal-stand positions with a time of 2:01.97.
Olympian Chloe Sutton (Mission Viejo, Calif.) and National Teamer Kirsten Groome (Shreveport, La.) put on an exciting show in the women's 1650y free. Sutton and Groome went stroke for stroke until the final 50 yards when Sutton surged forward to take the gold in 16:07.16. Groome earned the silver in 16:08.24. University of Minnesota's Ashley Steenvoorden (East Brunswick, N.J) rounded out the top three in 16:27.25.
The men's 1650y free also proved to be a tight race with Eegan Groome (Shreveport, La.) and Minnesota's Mike Holmes (Eagan, Minn.) battling for first place. It was Holmes who emerged with the victory by just .12 seconds in a time of 15:24.02. Groome, like his sister, took silver in the event in a time of 1:52.12. Charlie Rimkus (Tustin, Calif.) swam the bronze-medal time of 15:39.85.
In the men's 100y free, five of the eight lanes available were occupied by Gophers. However, it was Cal Aquatics' William Copeland (Lexington, Ky.) who destroyed the field by two seconds in a time of 42.42. Minnesota's Curt Carlson (Maple Grove, Minn.) stopped the clock next at 44.30 for second and his teammate Steve Miller (Windham, N.H.) was third in 45.57.
In other wins, Ian Clark (Malvern, Pa.) swam away with a victory in the men's 200y back in a time of 1:45.39. Gopher Stacy Busack (Fergus Falls, Minn.) took the top spot in the women's 100y free in 50.3 and teammate Nadav Kochavi earned gold in the men's 200y fly with his time of 1:46.12.
Descenza heads the leaderboard with 30 points, followed by Copeland with 15. Sitting in third place are Sutton, Clark and Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) tied at 13 points. The next stop on the USA Swimming Grand Prix Series will take place in Long Beach, Calif., January 16-19.
