PHELPS AND SCHMITT WIN THIRD GOLD AS AUSTIN GRAND PRIX CONCLUDES

Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md.) and Allison Schmitt (Canton, Mich.) each won their third gold medal Sunday on the final night of competition at the Austin Grand Prix. It was also Phelps’ fourth medal of the meet, winning a bronze medal in the 100m back.
Phelps took home his ninth medal of the Grand Prix Series with a win in the 200m medley. He touched the wall at the first turn in the lead and never let up finishing in 1:58.52. Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) and Conor Dwyer (Winnetka, Ill.) finished second and third, respectively. Lochte clocked a 2:00.30 and Dwyer a 2:01.59.
Cammile Adams (Cypress, Texas) started the evening off with a pool record in the 200m fly. Trailing Great Britain’s Jemma Lowe after 150 meters, Adams made her move in the final 20 meters touching the wall in 2:06.76, nearly half a second faster than the previous pool record of 2:07.13. Lowe turned in a 2:07.39 for second and Canada’s Mackenzie Downing finished third in 2:10.04.
The men’s 200m fly saw another come-from-behind win as South Africa’s Sebastien Rousseau pulled ahead of David Russell (Wellesly, Mass.) and Canada’s Stefan Hirniak in the final 50 meters. Rousseau out-touched Russell 2:00.83 to 2:00.98 for the gold. Hirniak took the bronze in 2:01.09.
Rebecca Soni (Plainsboro, N.J.) took home the gold in the 100m breast with a time of 1:06.88. Breeja Larson (Mesa, Ariz.) touched the wall next, nearly 1.5 seconds behind at 1:08.29. Canada’s Jillian Tyler rounded out the podium with a 1:08.33 for bronze.
Mark Gangloff (Akron, Ohio) won the men’s 100m breast for his first 2011-12 Grand Prix Series medal. His time of 1:01.08 edged out Ukraine’s Valerii Dymo and Eric Shanteau (Lilburn, Ga.). Dymo touched at 1:01.25 and Shanteau finished third in 1:01.54.
Missy Franklin (Centennial, Co.) had some stiff competition from Rachel Bootsma (Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Great Britain’s Georgia Davies in the 100m back. At the 50 meter turn, it went Bootsma, Franklin and Davies but Franklin came into the wall first in a time of 59.92. Bootsma finished in 1:00.03 and Davies touched at 1:00.67.
Matt Grevers (Lake Forest, Ill.) won the men’s 100m back against a stacked field that included Phelps, Lochte, David Plummer (Oklahoma City, Okla.) and Great Britain’s Simon Burnett. Grevers touched in 53.55 followed by Plummer in 54.02. Phelps finished third in 54.09.
The women’s 200m  medley saw the medal stand get occupied by all U.S. National Team members. Natalie Coughin (Vallejo, Calif.) led the way with 2:12.44. Katie Hoff (Towson, Md.) finished close behind in 2:12.95 followed by Kate Dwelley (Brentwood, Calif.) at 2:13.39.
The women’s final individual event was the 800m free. Schmitt picked up the win in 8:31.94 for her third of the weekend. Chloe Sutton (Mission Viejo, Calif.) came in second in 8:36.93 and Ashley Twichell (Fayetteville, N.Y.) rounded out the top three with a 8:37.29. Earlier in the day, Janet Evans (Placentia, Calif.) turned in a 8:49.05 to make the Olympic Trials cut of 8:50.49.
Closing out the evening was the men’s 1500m free. Michael Klueh (Evansville, Ind.) took the distance event in 15:25.33. Two-time Olympian Peter Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich.) finished second in 15:39.43 with Britain’s Thomas Allen coming in third with a 15:43.33.
The next stop on the 2011-12 USA Swimming Grand Prix Series circuit will be the Missouri Grand Prix in Columbia, Mo., on February 10-12. The overall winner of the Grand Prix Series will be awarded $20,000 at the final Grand Prix held in Santa Clara, Calif., May 31-June 3, 2012. For a complete Grand Prix schedule and leaderboard,