Phelps Breaks Meet Record at the Swimnetwork.com Santa Clara International Grand Prix

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md.) broke the meet record and earned his first gold medal of the meet in the men’s 200m fly Friday night at the Swimnetwork.com Santa Clara International Grand Prix. Phelps finished with a time of 1:54.31, more than a second in front of the rest of the field. 

Phelps led the field throughout the race to beat the previous meet record set last year by Davis Tarwater. The 200m fly was Phelps’ first race of the meet and his only final of the night. David Mosko (Cincinnati, Ohio) was second in 1:59.98 and Australia’s Sam Ashby was third in 2:00.67.

Australian Olympic gold medalist Leisel Jones lowered her own meet record in the women’s 200m breast with a time of 2:23.92, more than three seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Kaitlin Freeman (Concord, Calif.) was second in 2:27.32 and Australia’s Sarah Katsoulis was third in 2:27.92.

Olympian Dana Vollmer (Granbury, Texas) took home two gold medals Friday night, winning both the women’s 100m free and 100m fly. Vollmer swam a 54.23 in the 100m free and a 58.40 in the 100m fly. The top three in the 100m free also included Olympian Amanda Weir (Lawrenceville, Ga.), who earned the silver in 55.19, and Australia’s Megan Nay, who took the bronze in 55.65. Current Grand Prix Series points leader Mary DeScenza (Naperville, Ill.) was second in the 100m fly in 59.42 and 2008 Olympian Elaine Breeden (Lexington, Ky.) was third in 59.51.

Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) also claimed his first gold medal of the meet Friday, winning the men’s 400m IM. Lochte held a strong lead for the most of the race, however, the field closed in on him during the breaststroke leg of the event. Still, Lochte was able to pull ahead in the freestyle leg of the race to finish in 4:18.62. Robert Margalis (Clearwater, Fla.) was a close second in 4:18.84 and Australia’s Thomas Fraser-Holmes was third in 4:19.94

In other races, Olympic silver medalist Brenton Rickard (Australia) was victorious in the men’s 100m breast, winning with a time of 1:01.44. Canada’s Scott Dickens was second in 1:01.90 and Olympian Scott Spann (Austin, Texas) was third in 1:02.36. Ricky Berens (Charlotte, N.C.) claimed the gold in the men’s 200m free with a time of 1:47.18. Berens pulled ahead off the wall in the final 50 meters to seal the win. Canada’s Brent Hayden earned the silver in 1:47.79 and Australia’s Patrick Murphy took home the bronze in 1:47.88. Australia’s Meagen Nay won the women’s 400m free with a personal best time of 4:08.74. Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry was second in 4:09.00 and Kelsey Ditto (Austin, Texas) was third in 4:10.23. 

Competition continues Saturday with 10 events. The women’s competition includes the 400m IM, 100m breast, 200m free, 100m back and 800m free relay. The men’s program features the 100m fly, 400m free, 200m back, 50m free and 800m free relay. Prelims begin at 9 a.m. and finals start at 5 p.m. PT. 

Footage from the meet the will be broadcast by both Swimnetwork.com and Universal Sports. Swimnetwork.com will provide a LIVE online stream of the finals and the prelims from each day of competition and Universal Sports will broadcast finals footage Friday through Sunday. To view live footage of the meet, visit www.swimnetwork.com. For complete results, click here.


About USA Swimming
As the National Governing Body for competitive swimming in the United States, USA Swimming formulates the rules, implements policies and procedures, conducts national championships, disseminates safety and sports medicine information and selects athletes to represent the United States in international competition. USA Swimming has more than 300,000 members nationwide and sanctions more than 7,000 events each year. For more information, visit usaswimming.org.