SWIMMING: Seven Meet Records Fall at Toyota Southern California Grand Prix of Swimming

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Saturday, January 19, 2008 Contact: Karen Linhart, (719) 866-3588, klinhart@usaswimming.org Seven Meet Records Fall at Toyota Southern California Grand Prix of Swimming Michael Phelps leads field with two meet records in the 100y and 500y free LONG BEACH, Calif.-Seven meet records were broken Saturday on the second day of competition at the Toyota Southern California Grand Prix of Swimming. Six-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md.) led the field with wins in the 100y free and the 500y free. In his first race of the evening, Phelps came from behind to beat Tucson Ford Dealer Aquatics' Matt Grevers (Lake Forest, Ill.) in the last 25 yards of the 100-yard free. Phelps broke his own meet record with a time of 41.93. Grevers was second in 42.24 and Olympian Jason Lezak (Irvine, Calif.) was third in 42.64. In the final race of the night, Phelps battled fellow Club Wolverine swimmers Erik Vendt (North Eaton, Mass.) and Peter Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich.) in the 500y free. Phelps took the early lead on his way to another meet record, finishing with a time of 4:10.43. Vendt was second in 4:13.41 and Vanderkaay finished third in 4:21.06. In the women's 200y back, World Champion and Mecklenburg Aquatic Club swimmer Margaret Hoelzer (Huntsville, Ala.) won a close race against Mary Descenza (Naperville, Ill.) to break her own meet record by more than two seconds with a time of 1:52.40. Descenza finished just behind Hoelzer in 1:52.44 and Samantha Pearson (Las Vegas, Nev.) was third in 1:58.79. Descenza added to her medal count for the night with a win in the 200y fly. The Athens Bulldog Swim Club swimmer broke the meet record in 1:53.09. Olympian Dana Kirk (Bremerton, Wash.) was second in 1:54.45 and Kim Vandenberg (Moraga, Calif.) finished a close third with a time of 1:54.66. In the men's 200y fly, Davis Tarwater (Knoxville, Tenn.) broke the meet record by more than two seconds with a time of 1:42.19. Tarwater took the lead at the end of the first 100 yards, finishing ahead of Tucson Ford Dealer Aquatics' Juan Veloz (Mexico), who placed second in 1:44.77. Pat Cary (Coto de Caza, Calif.) placed third in 1:44.84. Grevers took home his first gold medal of the meet and second medal of the night with his win in the men's 200y back. Grevers set a meet record with his swim, finishing in 1:39.99. Trojan Swim Club's Peter Marshall (Atlanta, Ga.) was second in 1:42.12 and Tucson Ford Dealer Aquatics' Simon Burnett (Great Britain) placed third in 1:43.33. Kaitlin Sandeno (Lake Forest, Calif.) took home her second gold medal of the meet in the women's 500y free, breaking the meet record with a time of 4:40.44. Allison Schmitt (Canton, Mich.) finished second with a time of 4:41.68 and Carly Piper (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) placed third in 4:43.56. Kara Lynn Joyce (Ann Arbor, Mich.) won gold in the 100y free, finishing with a time of 47.85. Jessica Hardy (Long Beach, Calif.) was second in 48.64 and Kim Vandenberg was third in 48.79. The Toyota Southern California Grand Prix of Swimming continues Sunday with ten events. The competition will include prelims and finals in the men's and women's 200y free, 200y breast, 50y free, and 400y IM. The finals session will also feature the 800y free relay. Prelims begin at 9 a.m. and finals start at 5 p.m. 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.