USA Swimming Grand Prix, Charlotte: Day Three Prelims

For full on-deck SwimmingWorld.TV coverage of the meet as it is available from Garrett McCaffrey, click here.

By David Rieder

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina, May 15. THE third day of long course meter prelims is complete at the Charlotte UltraSwim. Michael Phelps, Aaron Peirsol, Natalie Coughlin, Eric Shanteau, and Rebecca Soni all qualified for one final, but there were several notable misses as well. Highly competitive fields are assembled for the third night in Charlotte, among them the 100 back for both men and women.

Women's 200 Fly
A good field is set for the A final of the longer fly. British Olympian Jemma Lowe, representing Gator Swim Club, qualified sixth in 2:17.56, while U.S. Olympian Elizabeth Beisel of Bluefish was the first to qualify, with a 2:15.09. Several other young stars of USA Swimming also qualified, including North Baltimore's Felicia Lee (second, 2:15.47), A.S.K.'s Dagny Knutson (fourth, 2:17.24). The rest of the final field is made up of Nittany Lions' Kelly Nelson (2:16.04), Club Wolverine's Caitlin Dauw (2:17.53), Canada National Center's Barbara Jardin (2:18.41), and Crimson's Margaret D'Innocezo (2:18.43).

Men's 200 Fly
Club Wolverine's Dan Madwed led the way into a deep 200 fly final field, posting a 2:02.71, while three of his teammates also advanced, with Wu Peng (second, 2:03.13), Alex Vanderkaay (fifth, 2:04.19), and Matt Patton (seventh, 2:04.34). Gator Swim Club's Sebastien Rosseau, a world championships finalist in this event for South Africa, qualified fourth in 2:03.87, while North Baltimore's Todd Patrick (2:03.55), Longhorn's Ricky Berens (2:04.22), and Swim Ontario's Zach Chetrat (2:04.45).

Women's 50 Free
SwimAtlanta's Amanda Weir led the way into what will be a closely-contested final. Florida Gold's Natasha Moodie clocked a 25.98 for second, ahead of Puerto Rico's Vanessa Garcia (26.00) and Eagle Swim Team's Anne Marie Botek (26.17). Canada National Center's Victoria Poon (26.27) and Sandrine Mainville (26.38) made the top heat, along with Swim Florida's Erika Erndl (26.33) and Colorado Stars' Missy Franklin (26.46).

Men's 50 Free
Josh Schneider of Cincinnati and SwimMAC blazed the prelims of the splash-and-dash, clocking a top seed 22.54, the only time under 22 seconds. Two more SwimMAC swimmers and U.S. National team members qualified, in Nick Brunelli (second, 23.01) and Cullen Jones (seventh, 22.38). Meanwhile, Auburn swimmers Tyler McGill (23.22), Gideon Louw (23.26), Bryan Lundquist (23.28), and George Bovell (23.38) all made the final, along with Sabir Muhammad (23.25). Notably, superstar Michael Phelps of North Baltimore and Garrett Weber-Gale of Longhorn clocked times of 23.43 and 23.68, respectively, leaving them ninth and 10th, respectively.

Women's 100 Back
There were more major casualties in the sprint dorsal race, as world champion Gemma Spofforth of Gator qualified 10th in 1:03.94. Two-time Olympic champion Natalie Coughlin will highlight the final, as she qualified sixth in 1:03.05. Leading the way was North Baltimore's Elizabeth Pelton, clocking 1:02.36, followed by Athens Bulldogs Aleksandr Putra, who checked in at 1:02.42. SwimMAC's Lauren Smart was third (1:02.94), while Bluefish's Elizabeth Beisel and Colorado Stars' Missy Franklin both swam times of 1:03.00 for fourth. Rounding out the field were Tennessee's Jenny Connolly (1:03.25) and Guatemala's Gisela Morales (1:03.34).

Men's 100 Back
Longhorn's Aaron Peirsol, the world record-holder, had a close call in prelims and nearly missing the finals. Peirsol checked in at 56.26, more than a second behind the winner of his heat, Minnesota's David Plummer. Plummer upstaged an excellent field to take the top seed with a time of 54.93. SwimMAC's Nick Thoman and Eugene Godsoe, the NCAA champion, qualified second and third, respectively, with times of 55.20 and 55.36. Olympic silver medalist Matt Grevers of Tucson Ford came in next, at 55.36, while North Baltimore's Michael Phelps made the final with a showing of 55.78, as did Daytona Beach's Ryan Lochte, who clocked 55.26. Phelps nearly negative-split the race, recording splits of 27.81 and 27.97. Sebastiano Ranfagni of Rari Nantes was the last man in, posting a time of 56.56.

Women's 200 Breast
Olympic champion Rebecca Soni paced the field in her signature event, clocking a 2:29.39 to claim lane four for the final. Soni will be gunning for Kirsty Kowal's 10 year old meet record of 2:25.84 in the finale. Pointe-Claire's Ashley McGregor edged ahead of Soni at the halfway point but fell back slightly and ended up with a second-ranked time of 2:31.06. Home favorite Justine Mueller of SwimMAC was third in 2:31.77 before a big break to the rest of the pack. Nittany Lions' Corrie Clark (2:36.96), Swim Ontario's Tera Van Beilen (2:37.42), Tennessee's Alexa Barsanti (2:38.18), Eagle's Karie Haglund (2:38.34), and Indiana's Allysa Vavra (2:39.19) comprised the remainder of the field.

Men's 200 Breast
Longhorn's Eric Shanteau cruised in prelims of his pet event, posting a time of 2:13.83, more than 3.5 seconds ahead of the field. Austria's Hunor Mate, who touched out Shanteau for the 100 breast win last night, qualified second in 2:17.40, while Auburn's Adam Klein was third in 2:18.35. Toronto's Warren Barnes qualified fourth in 2:18.99, while Club Seminole's Rob Holderness (2:19.12) and Indiana's Aaron Opell (2:19.95) rounded out the sub-2:20 swims. Auburn's Mark Gangloff (2:20.40) and Wilton Y's Christian Higgins (2:21.29) completed the final field.

Women's 400 Free
Mission Viejo's Chloe Sutton dominated the field and took the top qualifying spot with a time of 4:11.57. Her closest competition could come from 200 free winner, A.S.K.'s Dagny Knutson, who qualified fifth in 4:17.50. Meanwhile, Florida Atlantic's Lauren Driscoll (4:15.03), Emily Brunemann (4:15.62), and Colorado's Christine Jennings (4:16.30) rounded out the top four. Indiana University's Brittany Strumbel (4:18.19) and North Baltimore's Willa Wang (4:18.69) also qualified in prelims, while Canada National Center's Barbara Jardin and Parkland's Taylor O'Brien tied for eighth at 4:19.01, setting up for a swim-off. O'Brien later won the swim-off to earn a spot in the championship final.

Men's 400 Free
Club Wolverine's Peter Vanderkaay crushed the field in the prelims, posting a top time of 3:54.73, the only sub-4:00 swim. Miami Metro's Carlos Omana, who took third in the 400 IM on Friday, claimed lane 5 for the final with his time o f 4:00.89, whie West Shore Y's Josef Kinderwater qualified third in 4:01.64. Two more U.S. Olympians qualified for the final, Daytona Beach's Ryan Lochte (fourth, 4:01.83) and Longhorn's Ricky Berens (sixth, 4:01.98). Badger's Ryan Feeley (4:01.89), Club Seminole's Ian Rowe (4:01.99), and Etobicoke's Hassaan Abdel-Khalik (4:02.23) rounded out the field.

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