USA Swimming Grand Prix: Missy Franklin Drops Speedy 100 Back; Michael Phelps Doubles; Brian Jacobson Qualifies for Olympic Trials at Age 37

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, November 12. THE second night of competition at the USA Swimming Grand Prix on the campus of the University of Minnesota featured a braces-free Missy Franklin and exciting races across every event.

Mixed disability 100 backstroke
After swimming the 100 butterfly yesterday in American record time, Mallory Weggemann just missed her American record of 1:23.17 with a time of 1:23.62. Also swimming in the race were Caleb Utesch, who touched first in 1:11.55, and Thomas Miazga who swam a 1:16.00.

Women's 200 butterfly
Kathleen Hersey of Longhorn led from start to finish in her pet event, winning in 2:09.84. Allison Schmitt, who has become a standout butterflyer while training at North Baltimore, was second in 2:11.26. Third place went to Lyndsay DePaul of Trojan with a 2:12.41.

Rebecca Mann (2:15.20), Kelly Nelson (2:17.07), Katelyn Sowinski (2:17.77), Camryne Morris (2:17.81) and Karie Haglund (2:19.20) also raced in the final.

Men's 200 butterfly
After facing defeat several times at the hands of Wu Peng earlier this year in this event, Michael Phelps left nothing to chance tonight, giving Wu no chance to take the lead. Phelps won in 1:56.12, bringing his meet win total to three. Wu, who trains with the Club Wolverine Elite team and represents China internationally, placed second with a 1:57.67. Tyler Clary of FAST was third with a 1:59.63.

Luca Mazzurana (2:01.78), Sebastien Rousseau (2:03.50), Matthew Conway (2:04.56), Kyler Van Swol (2:05.05) and Dan Madwed (2:05.16) rounded out the championship final field.

Women's 50 freestyle
Amanda Weir of SwimAtlanta and Jessica Hardy of Trojan battled stroke-for-stroke through the splash-and-dash, with Weir getting to the finish first in 25.04. Hardy was second with a 25.10. Dara Torres of South Florida Aquatics, competing for the first time against her domestic rivals in about two years, tied for third with Colorado Stars' Kara Lynn Joyce in 25.30.

Christine Magnuson (25.55), Missy Franklin (25.59), Chantal Vanlandengham (25.78) and Erika Erndl (25.90) also competed in the final.

Men's 50 freestyle
Fred Bousquet gave rival Cesar Cielo notice that he plans to be in the hunt for the Olympic gold medal next year with a swift in-season time of 22.17. Bousquet, representing France and Auburn Aquatics, swam a 21.78 in June to be third in the world. Tonight, he was comfortably ahead of Gator Swim Club's Brett Fraser, who is coming off a successful stint at the Pan American Games. Fraser swam a 22.41. Third place went to Bousquet's Auburn teammate Gideon Louw with a 22.59.

Also competing in the final were Garrett Weber-Gale (22.88), Bobby Savulich (22.97), Yannick Agnel (23.03), Roberto Gomez (23.15) and Chris Brady (23.20).

In the B final, Brian Jacobson, who lives and trains in Minneapolis, swam a 23.42 to qualify for the Olympic Trials at age 37, barely ahead of the standard of 23.49. Jacobson will turn 38 on Nov. 25, which now makes him the second-oldest male to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials, bumping Swimming World's Jeff Commings down the list, as he will not be 38 until next February. Steve West still reigns as the oldest male in history to qualify for the event. Jacobson is a former member of the U.S. national team and former Masters world record holder.

Women's 100 backstroke
Missy Franklin, who is now sporting her usual smile without braces, used a jaw-dropping final 15 meters to pull away from local heroine Rachel Bootsma to win in 59.69. Maggie Meyer of Ford Aquatics passed Bootsma in the final meters to place second with a 1:01.24. Bootsma, who won the 100 back at the Pan American Games less than a month ago, was third in 1:01.27.

Tess Behrens (1:01.74), Ariana Kukors (1:02.15), Hannah Ross (1:02.95), Whitney Myers (1:03.52) and Gemma Spofforth (1:03.83) were also in the championship final.

Men's 100 backstroke
Not long after a tough 200 fly, Michael Phelps blew away a very talented field in the 100 back with a winning time of 53.71. David Plummer of Minnetonka aquatics turned first at the 50 but couldn't match Phelps' closing speed, fading to second with a time of 53.87. Well back in third was SwimMAC-Carolina's Eugene Godsoe with a time of 55.58.

Ryan Lochte (55.80), Arkady Vyatchanin (55.88), Nimrod Bar-Or (55.91), Tyler Clary (56.07) and Ben Hesen (56.71) also raced in the stacked final field.

Women's 400 freestyle
Allison Schmitt, using the positive effects of training at altitude with North Baltimore recently, took the race out hard and led by more than a body length at 200 meters, giving Chloe Sutton and Camille Muffat lots of work to do in the final half of the race. Sutton and Muffat turned on another gear at 300 meters, running down a tiring Schmitt, who was able to get to the wall first in 4:07.78. Sutton, who swam a 4:08.22 at worlds, finished second with a 4:08.18 but was still off her top swim of 2011, a 4:06.04 in March. Muffat, the world championship bronze medalist in this event, was third in 4:08.28.

Also racing in the field were Ashley Steenvoorden (4:13.28), Elizabeth Pelton (4:13.87), Camryne Morris (4:14.33), Kate Ziegler (4:14.45) and Gillian Ryan (4:14.52).

Men's 400 freestyle
Some of the world's best swimmers in this event lined up for the championship final. Ous Mellouli, who was in the 400 free final at worlds, led at the start and had a slight lead in lane six over FAST's Matt McLean in lane one at 200 meters. By 300 meters, McLean had fallen off the pace, and Mellouli was now chased by France's Yannick Agnel and China's Zhang Lin. Agnel, the quickly-improving teenager, and Zhang, the 2008 Olympic silver medalist, ran out of room at the finish, with Mellouli winning in 3:49.60. Zhang's powerful kick helped him pass Agnel for second with a 3:50.48. Agnel took third in 3:50.52.

Mads Glaesner passed McLean in the closing meters to take fourth with a 3:51.51, while McLean settled for fifth in 3:51.61 and Michael Klueh joined the battle with a 3:51.87 for sixth. Also in the final were Sean Ryan (3:56.19) and Matt Benecki (3:59.62).

Women's 200 breaststroke
After losing the 100 breast last night, Rebecca Soni of Trojan was not going to be denied a win, with a lead of two body lengths at the 100-meter mark. Her time of 2:24.77 is far from the 2:21.03 she swam to win the world title, but her dominance showed through the race. Trying to keep pace in second place was Ashley Mcgregor of POinte-Claire, who swam a 2:29.23. Katy Freeman of Santa Barbara was right behind for third with a 2:29.26.

Also competing in the final were Haley Spencer (2:29.39), Katie Hoff (2:30.05), Jillian Tyler (2:32.17), Liz Smith (2:32.27) and Micah Lawrence (2:33.22).

Men's 200 breaststroke
Vegas oddsmakers would have advised bettors to put all their money on Longhorn's Brendan Hansen in tonight's final after his dominating performance in last night's 100 breast. But Clark Burckle of Tucson Ford wanted to buck those odds. Taking the lead after 150 meters, Burckle won the race in 2:14.42, less than a month after his silver medal-winning swim at the Pan American Games. Hansen tried to regain the lead but finished second in 2:14.82, while Jack Brown of Missouri Aquatics was third in 2:15.57.

Vlad Polyakov (2:15.84), Neil Versfeld (2:16.05), Joshua Hall (2:17.71) and Scott Dickens (2:19.10) placed fourth through eighth. Scott Weltz was disqualified.

800 freestyle relays

Minnesota took the top two spots in the women's long relay, posting times of 8:14.50 and 8:16.98. Mission Viejo's team was third in 8:25.36.

In the men's relay, France dominated with a winning time of 7:27.92. Michigan placed second with a 7:33.19, and Minnesota claimed third with a 7:41.02.

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