SWIMMING: World and American Records Fall at The Missouri Grand Prix

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Saturday, Feb. 16, 2008 Contact: Karen Linhart (719-866-3588 / klinhart@usaswimming.org) World and American Records Fall at The Missouri Grand Prix Kirsty Coventry breaks world record; Katie Hoff lowers American record Columbia, Mo.-Swimmers lit up the pool Saturday morning at The Missouri Grand Prix as Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry broke a world record in the 200m backstroke and U.S. National Teamer Katie Hoff (Towson, Md.) swam to an American record in the 400m freestyle. Coventry's time broke the second-oldest world record in the books in the 200m back in a time of 2:06.39, while Hoff erased the longest-standing American record in the 400m freestyle with a time of 4:02.20. Both swimmers wore the new Speedo LZR RACER suit during their record-breaking swims. World champion Margaret Hoelzer (Huntsville, Ala.) took home silver in the 200m back in a time of 2:10.76. National Teamer Mary Descenza (Naperville, Ill.) turned in a time of 2:12.40 to secure third place. Kate Ziegler (Great Falls, Va.) finished behind Hoff in the 400m free to win silver with a time of 4:08.69. Jessica Rodriquez (Aurora, Colo.) finished third in 4:10.66. Hoff scored her second gold medal of the morning in the 100m free, touching in at 54.28 to edge the American-record holder Natalie Coughlin (Vallejo, Calif.). Olympian Kara Lynn Joyce (Ann Arbor, Mich.) came in at 54.34 for silver, and Coughlin clocked a time of 54.36 for bronze. Brazil's Cesar Cielo captured the gold in the men's 100m free, stopping the clock at 48.49 to set a pool record. Matt Grevers (Lake Forest, Ill.) followed with the silver-medal time of 49.61. South Africa's Lyndon Ferns rounded out the top three in 49.87. Two-time Olympian Aaron Peirsol (Irvine, Calif.) destroyed the competition in the men's 200m back by nearly four seconds in a pool record time of 1:55.85. Peirsol's teammate David Cromwell also swam a sub-two minute race to claim second place in 1:59.01. Grevers posted the third-fastest time of the morning with 2:00.16. Two-time Olympian Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md.) lowered his own U.S. Open record from 1:53.71 to 1:53.31 to win the men's 200m butterfly. Brazil's Kaio Almeida was second in 1:56.44 and Davis Tarwater (Knoxville, Tenn.) was third in 1:56.99. Erik Vendt (North Easton, Mass.) fell just shy of breaking the men's 400m free American record by fourth-tenths with a time of 3:44.56. Vendt took home the gold, while American-record holder Klete Keller (Phoenix, Ariz.) was second in 3:49.29. Chad LaTourette (Mission Viejo, Calif.) was third 3:52.35. In the women's 200m butterfly, Descenza added to her Toyota Grand Prix Series point total, winning the event with a time of 2:09.01. Kim Vandenberg (Moraga, Calif.) won silver in 2:09.47 and Felicia Lee (Towson, Md.) won bronze in 2:12.73. Prelims will continue Saturday evening at 4:30 p.m.(CST) with the men's and women's 200m free, 200m breast, 50m free and the 400m IM. Check usaswimming.org for results and highlights. 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.