By David Rieder<\/i><\/p>\n
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, November 12. The 2010-2011 Grand Prix series opened in Minneapolis tonight at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center. Defending Grand Prix series champion Chloe Sutton competed in Minneapolis, but she failed to earn any points towards the defense of her title on night 1. U.S. Olympian Ricky Berens and rising superstar Missy Franklin each won two titles on first evening, but the top performance of the night came from Canadian Jillian Tyler, who recorded the fourth fastest performance in history in the women's 100 breast.<\/p>\n
Mixed 100 Fly Multi-Disability<\/b>
\nJoe Wise recorded the top time among the men, clocking 59.78, followed closely by Ames Cyclone's Caleb Utesch, who posted a 59.96. Thomas Miagza took third in 1:14.34. Mallory Weggemann, the winner of eight golds at this summer's world championships for disabled swimmers, took fourth and last 1:23.91, as the only woman in the race.<\/p>\n
Women's 200 Free<\/b>
\nColorado Stars' Missy Franklin jumped into the all-time top 20 in this event with a time of 1:43.70. The 15 year old Franklin will represent the U.S. at the World Short Course Championships in Dubai, where she will contest up to eight events. Franklin dominated the race, finishing two and a half seconds ahead of T2 Aquatics' Erika Erndl, 32, who posted a 1:46.30, while Asphalt Green's Lia Neal claimed third in 1:46.73. Meanwhile, 2009-2010 Grand Prix champion Chloe Sutton of Mission Viejo took fourth in 1:47.10, as she seeks to defend her title for the 2010-2011 season.<\/p>\n
Men's 200 Free<\/b>
\nIn a battle of Olympian gold medalists, Longhorn's Ricky Berens touched out Tunisia's Ous Mellouli in the men's 200 free. Berens, who won gold as a member of the U.S. 4×200 free relay in Beijing, posted a quick time of 1:34.01, enough to hold off Mellouli, who swam 1:34.24. Mellouli, a Tunisian, won the 1,500 gold medal in Beijing. Tucson Ford's Simon Burnett picked up third in 1:35.24, well off his personal best time of 1:31.20, the U.S. Open record and fastest time in history.<\/p>\n
Women's 100 Breast<\/b>
\nThe University of Minnesota's Jillian Tyler blazed through the women's 100 breast, posting a time of 58.22. The time moved Canadian Tyler to fourth all-time, behind Tara Kirk (57.77), Annie Chandler (58.06), and Rebecca Soni (58.10). She is in range of chasing these top three performances when she swims at the NCAA championships in March. Tyler's teammate Haley Spencer made it a 1-2 finish for the host team, clocking a second-place time of 1:00.35. Both times are faster than any other college swimmer has swum in the 2010-2011 season. Nittany Lions' Corrie Clark won third place honors, posting a time of 1:00.71.<\/p>\n
Men's 100 Breast<\/b>
\nTucson Ford's Mike Alexandrov obliterated the field in his specialty event. Alexandrov posted a fast 52.13, not far off his American record of 51.56. Barry Murphy, an Irish swimmer swimming unattached for Club Wolverine, claimed runner-up honors in 54.09, holding off superstar Ryan Lochte. Lochte, swimming unattached from Gator Swim Club, managed a 54.41 for third in one of his weakest events. Lochte looked particularly fatigued during the race, losing ground on his typically-outstanding turns. Notably, 100 back national champion David Plummer made a rare appearance in a breaststroke race. Plummer, representing Minnetonka Swim Club, posted a fifth-place time of 55.18.<\/p>\n
Women's 100 Fly<\/b>
\nTucson Ford's Christine Magnuson posted a winning time of 51.95. Magnuson, the 2008 Olympic silver medalist in the 100 fly, had no competition and cruised to first place. Bearcat's Tori Simenec grabbed second in 54.03, touching out Minnesota's Kaylee Jamison, who posted a 54.25.<\/p>\n
Men's 100 Fly<\/b>
\nLonghorn's Ricky Berens defeated his second Olympic gold medalist in one night, taking down Ryan Lochte in the 100 fly. Lochte led convincingly at the halfway mark, but Berens used a powerful final kickout and final 25 to chase down Lochte and earn the win in 46.77. Lochte, meanwhile, faded down the stretch, holding off Club Wolverine's Alon Mandel for second place, 47.31 to 47.42.<\/p>\n
Women's 400 IM<\/b>
\nColorado Stars' Missy Franklin dominated the women's long medley event. She posted a 4:08.06, out-distancing the field by more than six seconds and a second victory for the night. Meanwhile, Mission Aurora's Bonnie Brandon held off Minnesota's Kristen Steenvooren for second place, recording respective times of 4:14.36 and 4:14.91.<\/p>\n
Men's 400 IM<\/b>
\nTrojan's Ous Mellouli crushed North Baltimore's Todd Patrick, posting a time of 3:40.86. Mellouli took the lead at the 100-yard mark, and he finished only five seconds back from Tyler Clary's U.S. Open record of 3:35.98. Mellouli rebounded from a runner-up finish earlier in the night in the 200 free. Patrick finished second in 3:48.26, while Gator's Rex Tullius ended up third in 3:54.69, after leading the race at the first 50.<\/p>\n
400 Free Relays<\/b>
\nThe University of Minnesota swept the 400 free relays to close out the first evening of competition. Hannah Whitehead, Meagan Radecke, Marissa Davies, and Erin Calflish won the women's relay in 3:21.09, defeating a Missy Franklin-fueled Colorado Stars team, which claimed second in 3:23.91. Franklin split a blazing 48.08 on the second leg. Meanwhile, Curt Carlson, Zach Bolin, Kevin Baseheart, and Michael Richards took the men's race in 2:57.66.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By David Rieder MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, November 12. The 2010-2011 Grand Prix series opened in Minneapolis tonight at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center. Defending Grand Prix series champion Chloe Sutton<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-usa","category-zzzzzzzzz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n