USA Swimming Grand Prix, Columbia: Rebecca Soni, Ous Mellouli Stand Out

COLUMBIA, Missouri, February 18. THE initial evening of long course meter competition at the USA Swimming Grand Prix in Columbia, Mo., featured Trojan Swim Club teammate Rebecca Soni and Ous Mellouli turning in some fabulous swims.

Soni sprinted to a pool and meet record in the women's 100 breast with a sterling time of 1:05.89. That swim shattered the 2008 pool and meet record of 1:06.66 set by Tara Kirk, and show Soni well past Leisel Jones (1:07.66) to the top of the world rankings this year. Trojan teammate Jessica Hardy picked up a strong second-place finish with a 1:07.22 to move to second in the world, while Tucson Ford's Ann Chandler earned third in 1:08.86.

Mellouli joined Soni as a global pacesetter with a 4:13.38 in the men's 400 IM. That performance cleared Laszlo Cseh's early bellwether mark of 4:15.39 from Antwerp last month. Swim Ontario's Andrew Ford finished second in 4:25.78, while Metro's Carlos Omana earned third in 4:25.83.

Mellouli doubled up by dominating the men's 200 free with a winning time of 1:47.03. That swim pushed him to second in the early world rankings behind only Yannick Agnel's 1:46.55 set in Nice earlier this month. Teammates Thiago Pereira finished second in 1:49.81, while Markus Rogan nabbed third in 1:49.98.

Jason Dunford popped a second-ranked time of his own with a 52.76 to win the men's 100 fly. Only Michael Phelps has been faster with a 52.55 set during the Austin Grand Prix last month. Tucson Ford's Masayu Kishida finished second in 53.14, while Auburn's Tyler McGill captured third in 53.41.

2010 Grand Prix circuit winner Chloe Sutton, who represents Mission Viejo, demonstrated some speedwork with a victory in the women's 200 free. She clocked a time of 1:59.38, overtaking Dagny Knutson down the final 50 meters with a 29.85 to 30.65 split. Knutson settled for second in 1:59.95, while Whitney Myers took third in 2:01.95.

Kara Lynn Joyce touched out training partner Myers, 1:01.22 to 1:01.35, in the women's 100 fly. Nittany Lion Kelly Nelson finished third in 1:02.28. York's Haley Flickinger cruised in the women's 400 IM with a 4:47.27 for the win. South Florida's Julia Stupp took second in 4:52.68, while Amber McDermott checked in with a third-place 4:52.87.

According to USA Swimming, the men's 100m breaststroke was under protest at the conclusion of Friday night's finals. The event will be re-swum at the start of Saturday night's finals. Participants must notify officials at the end of Saturday's prelims if they will be re-swimming the race.

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