SWIMMING: Joyce and Grevers Win Twice, Six Meet Records Fall at Toyota Southern California Grand Prix

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sunday, January 20, 2008 Contact: Karen Linhart, (719) 866-3588, klinhart@usaswimming.org Joyce and Grevers Win Twice, Six Meet Records Fall at Toyota Southern California Grand Prix of Swimming Second stop of 2007-2008 Toyota Grand Prix Series to Conclude Tomorrow LONG BEACH, Calif.-Kara Lynn Joyce (Ann Arbor, Mich.) and Matt Grevers (Lake Forest, Ill.) took home two gold medals Sunday at the Toyota Southern California Grand Prix of Swimming. Joyce set a meet record with her swim in the 50y free and also took the top spot in the 200y free. Grevers won gold in the men's 50y and 200y free, setting meet records in each event. In addition to Grevers and Joyce's record-breaking performances, three other meet records fell on the meet's second full day of competition. Olympic silver medalist Joyce took an early lead in the 200y free, however, on the final 25 yards, fellow Athens Bulldog Swim Club swimmer Mary Descenza (Naperville, Ill.) was right on her heels. Joyce finished first in 1:43.70 while Descenza was second in 1:44.09. Olympic gold medalist Kaitlin Sandeno (Lake Forest, Calif.) placed third in 1:45.13. In the women's 50y free, Joyce broke the meet record with a time of 21.75. Trojan Swim Club's Jessica Hardy (Long Beach, Calif.) was second in 22.29 and Team Bruin's Kim Vandenberg (Moraga, Calif.) was third in 22.63. Grevers broke his first meet record of the night with a win in the 200y free. He led the field from the start and finished in 1:33.44. Olympic gold medalist Klete Keller (Pheonix, Ariz.) placed second in 1:34.58 and Adam Ritter (Reynoldsburg, Ohio) was a close third in 1:34.89. In the men's 50y free, Grevers set his second meet record of the evening with a time of 19.18. U.S. National Team member Nick Brunelli (Mansfield, Mass.) was second in 19.64 and Olympic gold medalist Jason Lezak (Irvine, Calif.) placed third in 19.74. World-record holder Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md.) had a strong swim in the 400y I.M., breaking his own meet record with a time of 3:38.28. Trojan Swim Club's Tamas Kerekjarto (Hungary) was second in 3:46.96 and Mecklenburg Aquatic Club's Tim Liebhold (Chapel Hill, N.C.) finished third in 3:50.64. Kaitlin Sandeno took home her third gold medal and third meet record with her win in the women's 400y I.M. Sunday night. She finished in 4:05.86, four seconds ahead of El Dorado Aquatic Club's Caitlin Leverenz (Tucson, Ariz.), who finished second in 4:10.44. Lyndsay De Paul (Orange, Calif.) was third in 4:12.19. In the women's 200y breast, Tara Kirk (Bremerton, Wash.) set a meet record with a time of 2:07.94. Leverenz took home the silver in 2:08.59 and Trojan Swim Club's Amanda Beard (Irvine, Calif.) earned the bronze with a time of 2:10.76. Mecklenburg Aquatic Club's Mark Gangloff (Akron, Ohio) won gold in the men's 200y breast with a time of 1:57.30. The Olympic medalist came from behind during the second half of the race to beat Cheyne Bloch (Malibu, Calif.), who earned silver in 1:58.22. Mecklenburg Aquatic Club's Jeremy Knowles (Bahamas) earned bronze in 1:59.13. The Toyota Southern California Grand Prix of Swimming concludes Monday with ten events. The competition will include prelims and finals in the men's and women's 100y fly, 100y, back, 100y breast and 200y I.M. The finals session will also feature the 400y medley relay and the men's and women's 1650y free. Prelims begin at 9 a.m. and finals start at 4 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.

Tags: Caitlin Leverenz, Jason Lezak, Jessica Hardy, Kaitlin Sandeno, Kara Lynn Joyce, Klete Keller, Mark Gangloff, Mary Descenza, Michael Phelps, Tara Kirk