Nathan Adrian Downs Historic Matt Biondi Meet Record in Austin

AUSTIN, Texas, January 17. THE first day of finals competition is complete at the Arena Grand Prix held in Austin, Texas. Swimmers were vying for cash prizes this evening with $500 on the line for first-place, $300 for second place and $100 for third place.

California's Nathan Adrian put on a show by downing a historic pool record at the Texas Swim Center, when he lowered the Matt Biondi time in the men's 100 free.

Women's 100 free
Olympic star Missy Franklin raced to victory in the event with a swift 54.68. While well off her best time of a 53.52 from the Olympics, it was a strong midseason time and earned her a sixth gold medal on the Arena Grand Prix series after having already won five times in Minneapolis. While she will be turning it down to maintain college eligibility, Franklin is already up to $3,000 in race winnings.

First Colony's Simone Manuel claimed second in 55.52, a second off her top time as well. SMU's Nathalie Lindborg raced to third in 56.16. SMU's Isabella Arcila (56.48), SwimAtlanta's Amanda Weir (56.49), SMU's Nina Rangelova (56.59), Canada's Victoria Poon (56.65) and Canada's Heather MacLean (58.02) rounded out the championship heat.

Meanwhile, Mission Viejo went 1-2 in the consolation heat as Kathryn McLaughlin touched in 57.78 and two-time Olympian Chloe Sutton clocked a 58.23 in a much faster swim than her typical distance freestyle events.

Men's 100 free
California's Nathan Adrian took down a historic pool record with his sizzling sprint of 48.32 out of a star-studded finale. That swim beat Matt Biondi's facility standard of 48.42 that had stood as the American record from 1988 to 2001. That's some amazing company for the Olympic gold medalist from Berkeley.

Longhorn's Ricky Berens also cleared 50 seconds for second with a swift time of 49.35, just missing beating the favorite Adrian, while Berens' teammate Jimmy Feigen raced to third in 50.01. Tucson Ford's Matt Grevers, who likely is more focused on his coming nuptials to Annie Chandler as the two are currently in wedding planning mode, finished fourth in 50.19.

California's Anthony Ervin raced to fifth in 50.49, while Palo Alto's Geoffrey Cheah finished sixth in 50.65. Stanford's Eugene Godsoe (50.80) and Club Wolverine's Michael Klueh (50.85) also competed in the finale.

Ryan Lochte won the B final in a 51.09 as he continues to get himself back into shape after focusing on his away from the pool entertainment industry commitments.

Women's 200 breast
Only five swimmers competed in the women's 200 breast today with SMU's Rachel Nicol earning the title in 2:28.79. Teammate Raminta Dvariskyte took second in 2:31.47. Central Bucks' Allie Szekely finished third in 2:32.68, while Ashley Wanland (2:32.89) and Lakeside's Peyton Greeberg (2:35.07) rounded out the championship heat.

Men's 200 breast
Palo Alto Stanford's BJ Johnson knocked off Tucson Ford's Clark Burckle, 2:13.02 to 2:13.36, for the distance breaststroke triumph, while Mike Alexandrov claimed his third medal of the Arena Grand Prix series with a bronze-winning 2:13.97. Alexandrov won a pair of golds in Minneapolis, and tonight's bronze-medal pushed him to $1,100 in winnings.

Imri Ganiel finished fourth in a time of 2:19.81, while Trojan's Glenn Snyders finished fifth in 2:21.15. Jerome Boucher (2:21.68), Palo Alto's Curtis Ogren (2:22.60) and Aldo Vielma Gonzalez (2:23.82) comprised the rest of the championship eight in the finale.

Women's 400 free
Mission Viejo's Chloe Sutton, shortly after swimming in the consolation heat of the women's 100 free, surfaced victorious in the middle distance event for her second gold and fourth medal overall of the Arena Grand Prix. Sutton raced to a time of 4:09.35, beating Canada's Barbara Jardin (4:10.27) by nearly a second. Meanwhile, Longhorn Quinn Carrozza smashed her lifetime best from prelims of 4:14.25 with a third-place time of 4:11.16.

Colorado Stars' Missy Franklin just missed the podium after earning her sixth gold of the series in the 100 free as she charted a fourth-place 4:12.56. Even though fourth-place might be surprising, the time still managed to whack nearly a second from her lifetime best of 4:13.36 set at the Longhorn Elite Invite in June of last year.

Island's Alexa Komarnycky (4:12.71), The Fish's Kate Ziegler (4:14.46), Mission Viejo's Ashley Twichell (4:15.40) and Lakeside's Leah Stevens (4:15.67) also vied for the championship title.

Sutton was particularly happy with not only her fieldmates, but also the song they walked out to.

Men's 400 free
Canadian Olympic Ryan Cochrane ripped off a time of 3:52.07 to capture the men's middle distance freestyle event of the night, while Texas' Michael McBroom touched just behind with a time of 3:52.41 in what proved to be an exciting race with McBroom pushing Cochrane the entire way. Club Wolverine's Michael Klueh completed the podium with a third-place time of 3:54.82, while Club Wolverine teammate Tyler Clary took fourth in 3:55.16 as part of a back-to-back 400 free/100 fly double.

Island's Alec Page touched fifth in 3:56.06, while Island's Keegan Zanatta (3:56.07), Santa Clara's Alex Wold (3:56.83) and Mission Viejo's Arturo Perez Vertti (4:00.63) also swam in the championship heat. Mission Viejo's Janardan Burns snared the B final title in 3:57.05.

Women's 100 fly
Canada went 1-2 in the finale as 16-year-old Noemie Thomas threw down a 58.88 to capture the championship title in the event. Fellow Canadian Audrey Lacroix raced to second in a time of 1:00.14, while Mission Viejo's Kathryn McLaughlin, 15, earned third in 1:00.82. McLaughlin's bronze medal is her third of the Arena Grand Prix series after winning a silver and bronze in Minneapolis.

Palo Alto's Ally Howe (1:01.05), SMU's Danielle Villars (1:01.31), Hilary Caldwell (1:04.01), Golden West's Stephanie Samudro (1:04.30) and SMU's Nina Rangelova (1:04.30) also competed in the finale.

Men's 100 fly
Stanford picked up the top two spots with Eugene Godsoe (53.54) and Bobby Bollier (53.57) battling down the finish. Godsoe actually overtook Bollier on the backhalf after turning behind Bollier, 25.28 to 25.33. Club Wolverine's Dan Madwed finished third in 53.77. The silver for Bollier is his fourth medal of the Arena Grand Prix, adding on to his gold and two bronzes from the Minneapolis stop. He broke $1,000 with his second-place check tonight.

Ryan Lochte finished fourth overall in 54.14 as he is obviously getting himself back into shape after an extended post-Olympics celebrity circuit. Ramiro Ramirez Juarez finished fifth in 55.20, while Club Wolverine's Tyler Clary placed sixth in 56.08 on the back end of a back-to-back double from the 400 free. Palo Alto's Andrew Liang (56.41) and Jake Tapp (57.13) also competed in the finale.

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