Hardy, Soni, and Vollmer Collect Gold at the Charlotte Grand Prix
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Dana Vollmer (Granbury, Texas), Rebecca Soni (Plainsboro, N.J.) and Jessica Hardy (Long Beach, Calif.) each earned a gold and silver medal on the second night of action at the Charlotte UltraSwim Grand Prix. Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md.) collected a silver medal in the 200m free.
Vollmer and Allison Schmitt (Canton, Mich.) battled it out in the women’s 200m free as Schmitt touched the wall fist in a meet record time of 1:57.38. It was the first of five meet records set throughout the course of the evening. Vollmer earned her first medal – a silver – of the night with a time of 1:58.62 and Katie Hoff (Towson, Md.) touched third in 1:58.85.
Charlotte native Ricky Berens (Charlotte, N.C.) and Phelps brought the crowd to their feet in the 200m free. Berens finished first but not before Phelps put on a strong second 100m to finish just behind the hometown hero. Berens touched in 1:47.32 and Phelps came in at 1:48.01. Charlie Houchin (Raleigh, N.C.) finished third in 1:49.03.
“I felt a lot better than I did this morning,” said Phelps. “Ricky is racing really well right now. This was a great win for him in his hometown.”
Soni dominated the women’s 100m breast in a time of 1:05.85, nearly two seconds ahead of Hardy who came in at 1:07.52. Fellow National Team member Micah Lawrence (Pflugerville, Texas) was also in the haunt with a 1:08.06 swim.
In the men’s 100m breast, Eric Shanteau (Lilburn, Ga.), Mark Gangloff (Akron, Ohio) and Brendan Hansen (Havertown, Pa.) all were in contention. Shanteau cruised into the wall first in 1:00.46. Gangloff collected his first of two medals on the night with a 1:01.41 second-place finish and Hansen was one-tenth of a second behind in 1:01.51.
The second meet record of the night came courtesy of Jenny Connolly (Cincinnati, Ohio) in the women’s 50m back. Connolly finished first just ahead of Rachel Bootsma (Eden Prairie, Minn.) in 27.99. Bootsma touched in 28.00 and Kristen Shickora from Athens Bulldog Swim Club finished third in 29.23.
On the men’s side of the 50m back, Eugene Godsoe (Greensboro, N.C.) took home the gold in meet-record time of 25.24. Adam Mania from Schroeder YMCA and Nick Thoman (Cincinnati, Ohio) finished second and third, respectively, in 25.40 and 25.41.
The women’s 100m fly is where Vollmer would collect her second medal of the night with a meet record time of 57.21. Natalie Coughlin (Vallejo, Calif.) was pushed to the finish by Claire Donahue (Bowling Green, Ky.) as the two finished in 58.82 and 58.84, respectively.
Davis Tarwater (Knoxville, Tenn.) won the men’s 100m fly in 52.87. Tyler McGill (Champaign, Ill.) finished in second place with a time of 52.98 and Tim Phillips (Vienna, W. Va.) came in third at 53.28.
In the women’s 400m IM, Caitlin Leverenz (Tuscon, Ariz.) set the fourth meet record of the night. Her time of 4:38.35 bested the rest of the field by 1.5 seconds. Katie Hoff collected her second medal of the night with a 4:40.82 and Elizabeth Beisel (Saunderstown, R.I.) finished third in 4:41.22 for the bronze.
Peter Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich.) took home the gold in the men’s 400m IM with a time of 4:16.22. Tunisia’s Ous Mellouli and Trojan Swim Club teammate Tyler Harris (Richmond, Va.) won silver and bronze, respectively. Mellouli touched in 4:18.81 and Harris swam a 4:21.27.
The women’s final individual event of the night was the 50m breast. As in the 100m breast, Hardy and Soni finished one-two but Hardy got the better end touching in 30.82, the fifth meet record of the night. Soni finished second in 30.86 and Molly Hannis from Tennessee Aquatics finished third in 31.85.
The individual events came to a close with the men’s 50m breast. Ireland’s Barry Murphy took home the gold in 27.81. Gangloff won his second silver of the night in 27.89 and John Criste from Trojan Swim Club took the bronze in 28.09.
The Charlotte Grand Prix will continue on Saturday with prelims starting at 9 a.m. ET and finals beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET. Universal Sports will also broadcast the event from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. and USA Swimming will have a live webcast of both prelims and finals.