Streamlined News

PHOENIX, Arizona, November 11. THE first prelim session of the Minnesota Grand Prix showed us some great racing this morning among some of the fastest swimmers in history.

Allison Schmitt, Missy Franklin and Katie Hoff were the top qualifiers in the women’s 200 free, setting up a great battle in the final and what could likely be a time under 1:58. The men’s 200 free final will have three of the finalists from the world championships, with world champ Ryan Lochte, silver medalist Michael Phelps and fifth-place finisher Yannick Agnel of France in the race. That final will also have Peter Vanderkaay, who won the bronze in the 200 free at the 2008 Olympics, Dominik Meichtry, who made the Olympic final in 2008, 1500 Olympic champion Ous Mellouli and relay gold medalist Ricky Berens. Just seven tenths of a second separated first through eighth in prelims, with no one willing to go under 1:50.

Rebecca Soni, Jessica Hardy and Jillian Tyler all went 1:08 in today’s women’s 100 breast prelims, and Brendan Hansen was the top swimmer in the men’s 100 breast prelims, posting a 1:01.53.

Christine Magnuson and Masayuki Kishida will lead the women’s and men’s 100 fly, and we’ll have a recap of the finals tonight at swimmingworld.com.

While the finals of the Minnesota Grand Prix are taking place tonight, the prelims of the final stop of the FINA World Cup begins in Tokyo. Chad Le Clos and Therese Alshammar are guaranteed their $100,000 bonus for earning the most points in the series standings. Le Clos has attended all seven of the World Cup meets, while Alshammar will have swum in six of them. All of the swimmers who won medals for Japan at the world championships will race this weekend in Tokyo, including Kosuke Kitajima, Aya Terakawa, Takeshi Matsuda and Yuri Horihata. All four of those swimmers attended a press conference last night in Tokyo, a press conference that was largely focused on Ian Thorpe, who will make more news than any other swimmer, whether he misses making the finals, earns a medal or wins an event. Thorpe’s comeback has been widely followed around the world, and this will be one of his last meets before March’s Australian Olympic Trials.

We’ll have prelims and finals coverage of the World Cup on swimmingworld.com.

College swimming will also be in full swing this weekend. After losing by one point to Michigan last weekend, the Texas Longhorns men’s team will race Southern Methodist this evening. Michigan’s men’s team, which is ranked first in the College Swimming Coaches Association of America’s poll this week by virtue of beating Texas, is competing at the Minnesota Grand Prix. Arizona’s men’s team, ranked third in the coaches poll, will step up to race Southern Cal this afternoon in Tucson.
The Georgia Bulldogs are the top women’s collegiate team in that coaches poll, and they’ll try to keep that ranking as they race against conference rival Auburn this afternoon. California and Texas, who are ranked second and third in the poll, are taking the weekend off from competition. There are plenty more college meets to appease your appetite, and you can find results of them all throughout the weekend on our college channel at swimmingworld.com.

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