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AQUATIC NOTEBOOK, Issue 151: Phelps, Lochte, Coughlin In Final Stretch At Charlotte UltraSwim

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Written by Sharon Robb

May 9, 2012

With less than seven weeks remaining until the U.S. Olympic trials in Omaha, the nation's top swimmers are heading down the final stretch of their preparations.

Only the top two swimmers in each individual event at the June 25-July 2 trials at Qwest Center will stamp their ticket to the Summer Olympics in London.

And that makes every meet, starting with this week's Charlotte UltraSwim Grand Prix, so very important.

Only two Grand Prix events remain, the other is in Santa Clara, Calif., May 31-June 3.

Swimmers are now focused on fine tuning, honing strokes, starts and walls, and above all looking for confidence-building going into the Trials, the final stepping stone to the world's biggest stage for swimming.

Olympic gold medalists Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte and Natalie Coughlin head the field for the Charlotte UltraSwim in North Carolina that begins on Thursday.

The sixth stop on the Grand Prix Series will be held at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center.

Most of the nation's top swimmers and Olympic favorites including Rebecca Soni, Katie Hoff, Brendan Hansen, Allison Schmitt, Jessica Hardy and Ricky Berens are in the field.

Timed finals are on Thursday beginning at 4 p.m. Prelims and finals are Friday through Sunday with finals at 6 p.m. The meet will be webcast at usaswimming.org. Universal Sports will broadcast the event live, 6-8:30 p.m. on Saturday and 6-8 p.m. on Sunday.

FINA Diving, ISHOF Inductions This Weekend

South Florida will have an Olympic-feel to it this weekend with the USA Diving Grand Prix at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex. Most of the world's top divers including the U.S. begin competing on Thursday. The meet will serve as a tune-up for the June 17-24 U.S. Olympic trials in Seattle. Six members of the 2008 U.S. Olympic team will battle the best from China, Australia, Mexico and Canada. Former Plantation diver Kassidy Cook, who turned 17 on Wednesday, will compete in the individual and synchro 3-meter events...

Brazilian four-time Olympian Gustavo Borges heads an impressive lineup for the 48th annual induction

ceremony for the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale Saturday night. Joining Borges are Domenico Fioravanti, Jozsef Szabo, Tian Liang, Jill Sudduth, Jesus Miguel Rollan Prada, Chad Hundeby, Laszlo Kiss, Frank Kurtz, Eldon Godfrey and Dr. Julio Maglione, current FINA president. For tickets call 954-462-6536.

Brady Bunch Does Torres, Lochte In

Olympians Dara Torres of the Coral Springs Swim Club and Ryan Lochte of Daytona Beach teamed up on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" this past week. When the topic was "The Brady Bunch," Torres and Lochte decided to rely on the audience for the right answer. The swimmers were eliminated on the fifth question after being asked, "If the opening credits of "The Brady Bunch" were a tic-tac-toe board, which of the groupings would make a winning combination. The correct answer was Jan, Alice and Peter. Torres and Lochte had hoped to win $1 million for the U.S. Olympic Committee but left instead with $10,000. "We didn't get that far but at the end of it we got $10,000 for charity," Lochte said. "I was hoping Dara would answer that because she's way older than me." Gymnasts Dominique Dawes and Jonathan Horton won $25,000 for the USOC....Also earlier this week, Lochte also appeared with his mother Ileana on NBC's Today Show with Matt Lauer and other Olympic hopefuls and their moms. Lochte's mom was his first swim coach. The appearance was part of Procter and Gamble's series about the Mom Behind the Olympic athlete.

Miscellaneous

USA Swimming national team coach Frank Busch said that all ten lanes will be used during prelims of the U.S. Olympic trials. He also said that fly-over starts would be used during prelims as well....Gary Hall Jr. was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.

Sharon Robb can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.