LOCHTE AND FRANKLIN WIN AGAIN AS ARENA AUSTIN GRAND PRIX CONCLUDES

Ryan Lochte

AUSTIN, Texas, RENANG INDONESIA – Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) and Missy Franklin (Centennial, Colo.) finished the Arena Austin Grand Prix by adding another win to their collection over the three-day meet in Austin, Texas and the Joe and Jamail Texas Swimming Center.

Lochte won the 200m medley in 2:00.98 beating out Tyler Clary (Riverside, Calif.) and Conor Dwyer (Winnetka, Ill.). Clary finished in 2:03.02 for second and Dwyer touched in 2:03.09 for third place.

For Missy Franklin, her win in the 100m back was her fourth of the meet. Franklin was the only swimmer to break 30-seconds on the first 50 meters as she cruised into the wall and touched in 1:00.00. Hillary Caldwell finished next in 1:01.82 and Isabella Arcila finished third in 1:02.22.

In the 200m fly, Audrey Lacroix took the top two spot in 2:09.55 followed by Katie McLaughlin in 2:10.37. Noemie Thomas finished in third in 2:11.43.

On the men’s side of the 200m fly, Bobby Bollier (Mission Hills, Kans.) beat Tyler Clary for the gold medal. Bollier went 1:58.18 and Clary finished in 1:59.43. Dan Madwed threatened his Club Wolverine teammate for the second spot but touched in 1:59.73.

Karlee Bispo won the women’s 100m breast in 1:09.37 for her first win of the night. Rachel Nicol touched second in 1:09.81 with Ashley Wanland (Long Grove, Ill.) finished third in 1:10.03.

Mike Alexandrov (Champaign, Ill.) won the men’s 100m breast. B.J. Johnson and Mark Gangloff (Akron, Ohio) battled it out for the second spot with Johnson getting the edge. He touched in 1:02.23 and Gangloff came in at 1:02.43 for third place.

Matt Grevers (Lake Forest, Ill.) touched the wall exactly one second ahead of the second place finisher, Eugene Godsoe (Greensboro, N.C.), for the win in the 100m back. Grevers finished in 53.75 and swept the backstroke events. Godsoe finished in 54.75 and Arkady Vyatchanin finished third in 56.87.

The women’s 200m medley is where Bispo picked up her second win of the night. Touching in 2:12.49, Bispo was able to hold off a surging Franklin her finished in 2:12.57. Alexa Komarnycky came in third place in 2:16.40.

Chloe Sutton (Mission Viejo, Calif.) won the women’s final event of the night, the 800m free, in 8:33.34. Mission Viejo teammate Ashley Twichell (Fayettesville, N.Y.) and Leah Stevens finished second and third, respectively. Twichell touched in 8:36.22 and Stevens finished in 8:48.93.

University of Texas swimmer Michael McBroom (The Woodlands, Texas) won the men’s 1500m free in 15:16.41. Fellow Longhorn product Michael Klueh (Evansville, Ind.) finished second in 15:26.06 and Eric Hedlin touched in 15:29.15 for third.

The next stop on the 2012-2013 Arena Grand Prix Series is February 14-16 in Orland, Fla. The Series will conclude June 2, 2013 in Santa Clara, Calif. As part of USA Swimming’s new, eight-year partnership with Arena, the Arena Grand Prix Series will offer swimmers the opportunity to take home prize money for top finishes in all individual Olympic-distance events for each meet in the Series.

The Arena Grand Prix Series serves as an opportunity for swimmers to race against some of the best competition in the country as they continue their preparation for the 2013 Phillips 66 National Championships in Indianapolis, Ind., World University Games in Kazan, Russia and the FINA World Championships in Barcelona, Spain (usaswimming)