Arena Grand Prix in Austin Begins Next Week

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, January 9. USA Swimming’s 2013-14 Arena Grand Prix Series resumes next week with the Arena Grand Prix at Austin, slated for Jan. 17-19 at the University of Texas’ Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center. The more than 400 athletes expected to compete include nearly 40 members of the USA Swimming National Team.

Top athletes expected to swim in Austin include the likes of Olympic Games gold medalists Nathan Adrian (Bremerton, Wash.), Tyler Clary (Riverside, Calif.), Natalie Coughlin (Vallejo, Calif.), Anthony Ervin (Vallejo, Calif.), Matt Grevers (Lake Forest, Ill.), Katie Ledecky (Bethesda, Md.) and Allison Schmitt (Canton, Mich.).

Former University of Texas standouts and USA Swimming National Team members Jimmy Feigen (San Antonio, Texas), Michael Klueh (Evansville, Ind.), Michael McBroom (The Woodlands, Texas) and Laura Sogar (Exeter, R.I.) also are expected to compete.

Universal Sports Network will air live coverage of the meet Friday, Jan. 17 and Saturday, Jan. 18 at 7 p.m. ET. A live webcast of the entire meet will be streamed online via usaswimming.org.

The action begins Friday, Jan. 17 and continues through Sunday, Jan. 19 with prelims at 9 a.m. CT followed by finals at 6 p.m. CT. Tickets are required for all sessions and may be purchased online via the Longhorn Aquatics Store or at the Swim Center store before or during the meet.

As part of USA Swimming’s partnership with Arena, the Arena Grand Prix Series will offer swimmers the opportunity to take home prize money for top finishes in all individual Olympic-distance events. In total, $150,000 in prize money is available to be distributed over the course of the six-meet series. At each meet, $500 will be awarded for a first-place finish, $300 for second and $100 for third in all individual events. Arena is serving as the title sponsor for the Arena Grand Prix Series for the second straight year.

In addition to the prize money, swimmers will compete for a Series grand prize from BMW. For the first time in the history of the Series, BMW will give the highest-scoring eligible male and female U.S. swimmer a one-year lease of a BMW ActiveHybrid 3 Series.

Male and female overall Arena Grand Prix Series champions will be honored at the conclusion of the 2013-14 series based on the number of points accumulated throughout the six meets. Participants will be awarded points in each individual Olympic event throughout the duration of the Series (Five points for first, three for second, one point for third place).

Conor Dwyer (Winnetka, Ill.) and Megan Romano (Jacksonville, Fla.) currently top the Arena Grand Prix Series standings after the first of six meets with 16 and 20 points, respectively.

The above article is a unedited press release submitted to Swimming World. To reach our audience, contact us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com.

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