Dana Vollmer won four races at the 2010 Austin Grand Prix

03/06/10

Austin, Texas - Dana Vollmer (Granbury, Texas) had a strong night in the pool Saturday, taking home two gold medals on the final night of competition at the 2010 Austin Grand Prix. Vollmer won both the 200m fly and 100m free, an event in which she also set a pool record. Olympic gold medalist Rebecca Soni (Plainsboro, N.J.) also broke a pool record with her swim in the 200m breast.

The women’s 100m free featured a fast field that included Olympians Vollmer, Natalie Coughlin (Vallejo, Calif.), Amanda Weir (Lawrenceville, Ga.), Christine Magnuson (Tinley Park, Ill.), Katie Hoff (Towson, Md.), and Kara Lynn Joyce (Athens, Ga.). Jessica Hardy (Long Beach, Calif.) held the lead going into the wall but was caught by Vollmer and Coughlin in the final lap. Vollmer hit the wall first in 54.30 to tie the pool record, Coughlin was second in 54.71 and Hardy placed third in 54.74.

Vollmer picked up her second gold medal of the night with her win in the women’s 200y fly. Vollmer took the lead after the first 100 meters and finished in 2:13.86 for the win. Kelly Nelson (West Chester, Pa.) was second in 2:15.88 and Kirstie Chen (Cerritos, Calif.) was third in 2:16.62.

Soni set her second pool record in Austin with a win in the women’s 200m breast. Soni swam a 2:22.91 which is more than three seconds faster than the fastest time recorded in the event this year. Soni was followed by Olympian Megan Jendrick (Tacoma, Wash.), who was second in 2:30.19, and Justine Mueller (Monroe, Mich.), who finished third in 2:32.65.

The men’s 100m free saw a close race between Olympic gold medalists Cesar Cielo of Brazil and Garrett Weber-Gale (Milwaukee, Wis.). Weber-Gale had a small lead after the first 50 meters, but Cielo beat him to wall to finish in 49.13. Weber-Gale hit the wall second in 49.31 and Matt Grevers (Lake Forest, Ill.) finished third in 49.45.

The current USA Swimming Grand Prix Series leader Chloe Sutton (Mission Viejo, Calif.) took home the gold in the women’s 800m free. Sutton had a strong lead throughout the race to finish in 8:41.54. Sarah Henry (Garner, N.C.) placed second in 8:49.52 and Kelly Baird (Lexington, N.C.) was third in 8:50.47.

In the men’s distance event, the 1500m free, Peter Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich.) had a strong swim to finish first in 15:18.75. Vanderkaay did not take the early lead but quickly swam to the front of the pack to get the win. Michael Klueh (Evansville, Ind.) was second in 15:27.24. Sean Ryan (Hixson, Tenn.) was third in 15:35.70.

In the women’s 200m back, Henriette Stenkvist (Apex, N.C.) swam a personal best time to win the race in 2:12.64. Canada’s Sinead Russell was second in 2:12.73 and Madison White (Danville, Calif.) was third in 2:13.44. On the men’s side, Nick Thoman (Cincinnati, Ohio) won the 100m back in 1:59.58. Robert Margalis (St. Petersburg, Fla.) finished second in 2:02.35 and Canada’s Matt Hawes was third in 2:02.51.

In other races, Mike Alexandrov (Champaign, Ill.) earned the top spot in the men’s 200m breast with a time of 2:14.79. Thomas Cole of Southern Methodist University was second in 2:16.34 and Matt Lowe (Minot, M.D.) rounded out the top three with a time of 2:16.52. Portugal’s Pedro Oliveira won the men’s 200m fly with a time of 1:59.02. Mark Hsu was second in 1:59.71 and Great Britain’s Edward Downes was third in 2:02.09.

The USA Swimming Grand Prix continues April 1-3 with the 2010 Columbus Grand Prix in Columbus, Ohio, which is the third stop of the eight-meet series. The winner of the Series will be awarded $20,000 at the final Grand Prix held in Los Angeles, July 8-11.