SWIMMING: Phelps, Coughlin and Hoff to Highlight First Session of Finals at The Missouri Grand Prix

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, Feb. 15, 2008 Contact: Karen Linhart (719-866-3588 / klinhart@usaswimming.org) Phelps, Coughlin and Hoff to Highlight First Session of Finals at The Missouri Grand Prix Olympian Katie Hoff breaks pool record on first day; Saturday finals begin at 9 a.m. Columbia, Mo. - The 2008 Columbia Grand Prix kicked off Friday night at the Mizzou Aquatic Center with a pool record set in the women's 400 freestyle. The first session of finals will take place tomorrow at 9 a.m. (CST) . As the first long course meet of the Toyota Grand Prix series, Olympian Katie Hoff proved to be in top form by coming within a half second of Janet Evans' American record in the 400 freestyle. Kate Ziegler (Great Falls, Va.), who holds the U.S. Open record in the event, will square off with Hoff tomorrow morning in the final. Only time will tell if history repeats itself when Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md.) swims in lane four of the men's 200 fly finals tomorrow. Last year, the two-time Olympian lowered his own world record in the event in this pool just one month before the World Championships. World-record holder Aaron Peirsol (Irvine, Calif.) made his return to American waters in the 200 backstroke with the only sub-two minute race of the evening to sit more than a second ahead of the competition. However, all bets are off as National Teamer Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.), who broke Peirsol's seven-year winning streak in the 100 back at Worlds in March, is slated to compete in the finals. Natalie Coughlin (Vallejo, Calif.), who holds the American record in the 100 free, is the event heading into finals. Coming off a successful Southern California Grand Prix in January, Matt Grevers (Lake Forest, Ill.) looks primed to score even more points on the Toyota Grand Prix leaderboard with a first-place seed heading into the finals of the 100 free. Mary Descenza (Naperville, Ill.) and Kim Vandenberg (Moraga, Calif.) will go head-to-head in the finals of the 200 butterfly, with only a half second separating the National teammates. Two-time Olympians Erik Vendt (North Easton, Mass.) and Klete Keller (Phoenix, Ariz.) occupy the top two spots in the men's 400. Finals will begin at 9 a.m., with swimmers retuning for prelims at 4:30 p.m. 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.