SWIMMING: Hoff Wins Third Gold Medal on Second Night of Toyota Grand Prix at the Ohio State University

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Saturday, April 5, 2008 Contact: Jamie Fabos (719-866-2340 / jfabos@usaswimming.org) Columbus, Ohio- Katie Hoff (Towson, Md.) won her third gold medal of the meet in the 400m IM on the second night of action at the Toyota Grand Prix at the Ohio State University tonight. In addition, the world record-holding trio of Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md.), Brendan Hansen (Havertown, Pa.) and Aaron Peirsol (Irvine, Calif.) each won their respective events. The meet concludes tomorrow with prelims and finals in the 200m backstroke, 100m freestyle and 200m fly. The men's 1500m free and the 400m freestyle relays will also be contested. Hoff started the night with a strong showing in the 400m IM, posting a time of 4:34.49. The 18-year-old finished over nine seconds ahead of the field as Club Wolverine's Kaitlin Sandeno (Lake Forest, Calif.) took silver in 4:43.66 and Courtney Kalisz (Bel Air, Md.) took bronze in 4:47.36."I took some chances with the race going out and it was the best first 200 I've had,"said Hoff. In the men's 400m IM, Phelps, the reigning world record-holder, outpaced the field by over three seconds to take gold in 4:13.73 In second was Club Wolverine teammate Erik Vendt (North Easton, Mass.) in 4:17.07, followed by U.S. World University Games gold medalist Pat Mellors (Pittsburgh, Pa.) in 4:27.25."The only thing I wanted to do was be faster than I was in [the Missouri Grand Prix],"said Phelps,"and I was faster here."Phelps now leads the Grand Prix scoring race with 64 points. Swimmers are awarded points for medals won at each of the eight meets in the series. The highest-scoring swimmer at the series' end will win $20,000, courtesy of Toyota and USA Swimming. In a men's 50m free final that featured Olympians Cesar Cielo of Brazil and American Olympic gold medalist Gary Hall, Jr. (Miami Beach, Fla.) , Auburn's Fred Bousquet pulled an upset, winning by three-hundredths of a second in 21.9. Cielo was second in 21.93 while Hall, Jr. took third in 22.29. The women's event went to Jamaica's Natasha Moodie in 26.08. New Tier's Betsy Webb and Northwestern's Andrea Hupman tied for second in 26.21. In the men's 200m breaststroke, world record-holder Hansen battled teammate Eric Shanteau (Lilburn, Ga.) down the stretch before outpacing his fellow Longhorn in 2:13.20. Shanteau touched just 13-hundredths later (2:13.33) for second and Ohio State's Elliot Keefer took third in 2:19.12. The women's 200m breast went to Sea Devil Swimming's Ashley Danner in 2:35.56. Alicia Aemisegger (Oreland, Pa.) was second in 2:35.62 and Spindrift Beck (Dallas, Tx.) took third in 2:35.86. The parade of world record-holders continued with two-time Olympian Peirsol headlining the 100m backstroke. Peirsol finished in 54.84 for the win. In second place was Longhorn teammate David Cromwell (55.26), and third place went to Mecklenburg's Tim Liebhold (Chapel Hill, N.C.) in 56.70. The women's 100m backstroke was swum in the absence of world record-holder Natalie Coughlin (Vallejo, Calif.) who is competing in Palo Alto, Calif. this weekend. Jenny Connolly (Cincinnati, Ohio) of Boilermaker Aquatics took the win in 1:01.99, followed by Elizabeth Pelton (Baltimore, Md.) of North Baltimore in 1:02.00. Third-place went to Teresa Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa.) of Germantown in 1:03.11. The evening's individual events concluded with the 400m freestyle. Olympian Peter Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich.) finished a full 10 seconds ahead of the competition and was three-tenths off the American record with a winning time of 3:44.41. Second-place went to Dan Madwed (Stamford, Conn.) in 3:54.99 while Ohio State's George Markovic took third in 3:56.93. For the women, rising American distance star Kate Ziegler (Great Falls, Va.) took more than nine seconds off her prelim time to win in 4:07.27. In second was Allison Schmitt (Canton, Mich.) in 4:11.72 and third went to Olympian Carly Piper (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) in 4:16.89.. The North Baltimore women won their second relay of the meet, claiming first in the 400m medley relay with a time of 4:12.05. Second went to Georgia's Dynamo Swim Club in 4:22.50 and third went to Nashville Aquatics in 4:23.28. The Ohio State men also won their second relay of the meet, finishing in 3:47.06. Team Mexico claimed second in 3:49.17 and Mecklenburg Aquatics was third in 3:51.81. The meet concludes tomorrow with prelims beginning at 9 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m. For coverage and results of the Toyota Grand Prix at the Ohio State University and other Toyota Grand Prix meets, 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.