FRANKLIN WINS THREE GOLD AS AUSTIN GRAND PRIX CONCLUDES

MAJALAH RENANG INDONESIA. National Team swimmer Missy Franklin (Centennial, Colo.) turned in the top performance of the night Sunday, taking home three gold medals in the women’s 200m IM, 200m back and the 100m free at the Austin Grand Prix. The three-day meet, which took place at the University of Texas at Austin, was the second stop of the seven-meet USA Swimming Grand Prix Series.

In her first event of the evening, Franklin won the 200m IM, beating the rest of the field by a little less than two seconds. She swam a 2:14.68 for the gold while Kaitlyn Jones was second in 2:16.54. Rachel Bootsma (Eden Prairie, Minn.) was third in 2:18.76.

Franklin’s second win of the night was in the women’s 200m back against a strong field that included National Teamers Elizabeth Pelton (Baltimore, Md.) and Madison White (Danville, Calif.). Franklin won the event with a time of 2:09.39, Pelton was second in 2:10.51 and White finished third in 2:13.13.

Franklin’s final, and closest, race of the night was the women’s 100m free. Franklin held off Olympian Katie Hoff (Towson, Md.) to win her third gold in a time of 55.48. Hoff swam a 55.86 for second place while Simone Manuel finished third in 56.34.

Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) won the face-off against Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md.) in the men’s 200m IM race. Lochte led the field from start to finish and won gold with a time of 1:59.26. Eric Shanteau (Lilburn, Ga.) had a solid breaststroke leg to take the second-place spot from Phelps. He finished in 2:01.12 while Phelps was third in 2:01.47.

Tyler Clary (Riverside, Calif.) earned his third gold medal in Austin in the men’s 200m back. Clary swam a solid race to win in 1:57.31. Jacob Pebley finished second in 1:59.19 and Nick Thoman (Cincinnati, Ohio) was third in 2:00.75.

In other races, Canada’s Brent Hayden won the men’s 100m free in 49.91. Lochte placed second in 50.08 and David Walters (Fairfax, Va.) was a very close third in 50.09. The women’s 800m free saw a strong performance from 2008 Olympian Kate Ziegler (Great Falls, Va.). Ziegler finished the race in 8:32.76. Katie Hoff (Towson, Md.) finished second with a time of 8:35.33 and Emily Brunemann (Crescent Springs, Ky.) was third in 8:38.45. The gold in the men’s 1500m free was won by Chip Peterson (Pine Knoll Shores, N.C.) with a time of 15:19.65. Michael Klueh (Evansville, Ind.) was second in 15:25.20 and Andrew Gemmell (Wilmington, Del.) was third in 15:29.95. (usa swimming)