USA Swimming Grand Prix, Minneapolis: Missy Franklin Leads Grand Prix Series; Chloe Sutton, Ous Mellouli Post Fast 1650s to Honor Fran Crippen

By David Rieder

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, November 14. THE first stop of the 2010-2011 USA Swimming Grand Prix series wrapped up Sunday in Minneapolis with several more fast swims. Colorado Stars' Missy Franklin added three more wins to her arsenal, going seven-for-seven in wins this weekend.

Superstar Ryan Lochte won two of his signature events, both in which he holds the American record, while Mission Viejo's Chloe Sutton and Trojan's Ous Mellouli put up inspiring swims in the 1650s, which honored the memory of the late Fran Crippen. The U.S. open water star died Oct. 23 during an open water swim in the United Arab Emirates.

Meanwhile, Franklin and Lochte completed the meet as the high-point scorers, with Franklin establishing a significant lead for the overall Grand Prix series.

Mixed 200 IM Multi-Disability
Ames Cyclone's Caleb Utesch and Paralympic star Mallory Weggemann competed in the 200 IM for disabled athletes. Utesch swam a 2:17.13, while Weggemann turned in a time of 2:59.04.

Women's 1650 Free
Mission Viejo's Chloe Sutton turned in a dominating performance in the longest event on the women's side. Sutton swam a 15:42.95, becoming the sixth-fastest performer of all time, while her time stands as tenth on the all-time list. She absolutely crushed her personal best time of 15:56.97 from the 2009 Long Beach Grand Prix. Sutton beat the field by nearly 20 seconds, as Minnesota's Ashley Steenvoorden picked up second in 16:02.51, while her teammate Loren Brandon took third in 16:19.28.

Women's 200 IM
In a battle of young swimming stars, Colorado Stars' Missy Franklin took down North Baltimore's Elizabeth Pelton. Pelton jumped out in front in the fly, but Franklin ran her down in the backstroke and pulled away in the freestyle. Franklin swam a time of 1:57.16, beating her previous personal best of 1:57.70, and in the process she earned her fifth win of the weekend. Pelton finished second in 1:58.38, while T2's Erika Erndl claimed third 2:00.62, Erndl's third podium of the weekend, having finished behind Franklin all three times.

Men's 200 IM
American record-holder Ryan Lochte jumped out to a huge lead over the first 100, and although he faded badly, he had enough in the tank to hold off North Baltimore's Todd Patrick for the win. Lochte split 21.82 at the 50-yard mark, under his American record pace of 22.00, fell just off the pace at the 100-yard mark (46.93, to 46.24), before Patrick ran him down. Lochte finished at 1:45.35, touching out Patrick, who clocked a time of 1:45.54. Longhorn's Ricky Berens, a three-time winner at this meet, finished third in 1:46.13.

Women's 200 Back
Colorado Stars' Missy Franklin continued her dominating ways, claiming her sixth win in the 200 back. Mission Aurora's Bonnie Brandon hung with Franklin through the first 100, before Franklin exploded down the stretch, and she won in 1:53.17. The time is exceptional considering the race came less than 20 minutes after she won the 200 IM. Meanwhile, Brandon hung on for second in 1:55.94, while Minnesota's Hannah Whitehead earned third-place honors in 1:57.62.

Men's 200 Back
Minutes after barely winning the 200 IM, Ryan Lochte dominated the 200 back. Lochte, swimming unattached from Gator Swim Club, nearly negative split the race, blowing away the field on the back half to finish in 1:40.44, about four seconds off his American record of 1:36.xx, but a solid swim considering he had just swam the 200 IM and won. Teammate Rex Tullius, the leader at the 50-yard mark, wound up second in 1:44.59, while Nelson Silva grabbed third in 1:47.00.

Women's 100 Free
Colorado Stars' Missy Franklin completed the Minnesota Grand Prix undefeated, claiming her seventh win of the meet and third win in about 45 minutes. Franklin recorded another solid time of 48.50 to complete the triple and end the meet as the overall leader on the Grand Prix leaderboard. Franklin held off Asphalt Green's Lia Neal, who posted a 48.70, while T2's Erika Erndl finished third in 49.60. The top three finished in the same order in the 50 free on Saturday.

Men's 100 Free
Tucson Ford's Simon Burnett attacked the 100 free from the start, and he added a second victory, after winning the 50 free on Saturday. Burnett posted a swift 42.63, nearly a second ahead of Club Wolverine's Bobby Savulich, who took second in 43.59. Longhorn's Ricky Berens returned from his third-place finish in the 200 IM to earn another third here in 44.27.

Men's 1650 Free
Trojan's Ous Mellouli pulled away from his competition early on in the race, splitting an 8:48.93 at the 1000 mark, the 8th fastest time in history at that distance. Over the last portion of the race, Olympic gold medalist Mellouli accelerated and closed the gap on U.S. Open record pace, coming within three-tenths with 50 yards to go. In the end, Mellouli became one of the many who have come so close to Thompson's mark of 14:26.62, set at the 2001 NCAA Championships, but failed to break it, finishing in 14:27.33. Larsen Jensen, Sebastian Rouault, and Erik Vendt have all come closer than Mellouli to breaking Thompson's mark, Jensen within a tenth of a second, but that mark continues to evade any threat. Meanwhile, Mellouli's teammate Mads Glaesner battled Longhorn's Michael Klueh throughout the race, with Glaesner coming out ahead, in 14:47.54, while Klueh ended up third in 14:48.74.

400 Medley Relays
The hosting University of Minnesota concluded the meet with wins in both 400 medley relays. Hannah Whithead, Jillian Tyler, Kaylee Jamison, and Meagan Radecke took the women's race in 3:38.57, while Zach Bolin, Ivan Gutsea, Kyler Van Swol, and Curt Carlson swam 3:18.67 to win on the men's side.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x