WRITTEN BY SHARON ROBB
January 12, 2011
Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps will renew their rivalry at the Austin Grand Prix Friday through Sunday at the University of Texas’ Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
The pair will compete against each other in five events.
Lochte stole Phelps’ thunder last year. He knocked off his good friend in the 200-meter individual medley at the 2010 U.S. National Championships for the first time in a major long course meet and went on to shine at Pan Pacs and FINA World Short Course Championships.
The pair will go head-to-head in the 200-meter freestyle and 100-meter butterfly on Friday, 100-meter backstroke on Saturday and 200 individual medley and 100-meter freestyle on Sunday.
For several members of the U.S. National Team, it is the first long course meters meet of 2011 and marks the beginning of 18 serious months of training leading up to the 2012 London Olympics.
It is also the first meet since the Pac Pacific Championships that Lochte and Phelps will compete in the same men’s field.
Other members of the U.S. National team entered are Jason Lezak, Garret Weber-Gale, Eric Shanteau, Katie Hoff, Kate Ziegler, Tyler Clary, Chloe Sutton, Missy Frankli and Ricky Berens.
Lochte, the 2010 Men’s Swimmer of the Year who lives and trains in Gainesville, last competed in the FINA World Short Course Championships in Dubai, where he won six gold medals and broke two world records in a textile suit.
Since Lochte wasn’t tapered for the Dubai meet and resumed training when he returned home, meet organizers are expecting some fast times and maybe another record or two.
It will be the first meet that U.S. National team member Peter Vanderkaay will compete as a member of the Gator Swim Club. He left Michigan for a change of scenery and to train with Lochte and several other top swimmers in Gainesville.
Phelps will be the big question mark of the meet. This is his first competitive meet since Pan Pacs. He has competed in a few low key meets with pedestrian results.
With no top-ranked swimmers entered, the women’s breaststroke races are wide open. Houston high school senior Skylar Smith, who has committed to Texas, is one of the up-and-coming swimmers to watch.
Fifteen-year-old Missy Franklin, another top high school swimmer who leads the Grand Prix Series after winning seven events in Minneapolis, is entered in eight events.
Most age group swimmers are still in their short course season.
The Austin Grand Prix is the second stop of the seven-meet USA Swimming Grand Prix Series.
Swimmers are awarded five points for a gold medal, three for a silver and one for a bronze medal. The top point gainer at the conclusion of the series will be awarded $20,000.
The finals will be webcast live online at usaswimming.org and on UniversalSports.com and televised on Universal Sports TV on Friday (6:30-8 p.m. and 11 p.m.-12:30 a.m.) and Saturday (6:30-8:30 p.m. and 11 p.m.-1 a.m.).
Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com
Share this:
South Florida Aquatic Club's Blog 