Industry News: Universal Sports, Swimnetwork.com to Provide LIVE Broadcast of the Charlotte UltraSwim

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, April 30. USA Swimming today announced that the Charlotte UltraSwim will be broadcast LIVE on the Universal Sports television network and webcast LIVE on Swimnetwork.com. Fans across the country will have the opportunity to see Olympians Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Christine Magnuson, Aaron Peirsol and Cullen Jones compete at the four-day meet in Charlotte, N.C., May 14-17.

The Charlotte UltraSwim will be the first long-course meet back in the water for U.S. Olympians and world-record holders Phelps and Jones. In advance to their finals coverage on Friday evening, Universal Sports will broadcast Phelps' first race, the prelims of the 100m fly, the morning of May 15th LIVE on Universal Sports.

Universal Sports will air footage from the A, B and C finals Friday, May 15 through Sunday, May 17. Olympic gold medalist Rowdy Gaines will provide color commentary for the broadcast and Steve Schlanger will handle the play-by-play duties. For a current list of TV markets that air Universal Sports, click here.

Swimnetwork.com will provide a LIVE online stream of the Universal Sports broadcast. In addition, Swimnetwork.com will also webcast the finals on Thursday, May 14 and the prelims from each day of competition. Swimnetwork.com will also feature on-demand footage of the Friday, Saturday and Sunday night finals as well as behind-the-scenes interviews with Olympic gold medalist Mel Stewart.

The competition will follow the traditional meet schedule of morning prelims and evening finals. The full competition schedule can be found online here. Finals begin at 4 p.m. ET on Thursday and at 6 p.m. ET, Friday through Sunday. Prelims begin at 9 a.m. ET, Friday through Sunday.

The Charlotte UltraSwim is the fifth stop in the six-meet USA Swimming Grand Prix Series, which awards the overall series winner a $20,000 grand prize. A leaderboard can be found online at www.usaswimming.org. The final stop in the Series will be the Santa Clara International Grand Prix in Santa Clara, Calif., June 11-14.

About Swimnetwork.com
Swimnetwork.com is the ultimate "swimming lifestyle" resource, providing event coverage, entertainment and swimming tips for the sport's core enthusiasts. Owned and operated by USA Swimming, Swimnetwork.com delivers original swim-themed programming, exclusive national event coverage, community interaction, fitness tips and daily news. Catering to competitive swimmers, fans of the sport's elite and fitness swimmers, Swimnetwork.com is an interactive destination for the chlorine-minded. Share your love of the sport. Get tips to reach personal bests. Read up on Team USA. Swimmers are their own breed of athlete. Swimnetwork.com is its own breed of website. Share our passion. Experience Swimming. Connect at Swimnetwork.com.

About USA Swimming
As the National Governing Body for the sport of swimming in the United States, USA Swimming is a 300,000-member service organization that promotes the culture of swimming by creating opportunities for swimmers and coaches of all backgrounds to participate and advance in the sport through clubs, events and education. Our membership is comprised of swimmers from the age group level to the Olympic Team, as well as coaches and volunteers. USA Swimming is responsible for selecting and training teams for international competition including the Olympic Games, and strives to serve the sport through its core objectives: Build the base, Promote the sport, Achieve competitive success. For more information, visit www.usaswimming.org.

About Universal Sports
Universal Sports, a partnership between NBC Sports and InterMedia Partners, serves as the preeminent multiplatform destination for Olympic-related and lifestyle sports programming available on television and online. Universal Sports is a 24-hour television channel available in 45 million television households in markets including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., San Diego, San Francisco, Denver, Seattle, Las Vegas, Indianapolis, Reno and Omaha. Major world championship and Olympic qualifying events found on Universal Sports range from track and field, skiing, swimming, gymnastics, marathons and cycling, to volleyball, rowing, triathlon, fencing, speed skating and martial arts. UniversalSports.com delivers an immersive experience via live and on-demand competition coverage, interaction with top athletes through blogs and in-depth access to Olympic sports news and information year round. For more information on the availability of the Universal Sports 24-hour television channel, please visit UniversalSports.com.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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