Articles

AQUATIC NOTEBOOK, Issue 152: Sutton, LaTourette Win At Charlotte UltraSwim

• 
• 

Details

Written by Sharon Robb

May 10, 2012

On the opening night of the USA Swimming Charlotte UltraSwim Grand Prix, distance events took center stage at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center in Charlotte, N.C.

Chloe Sutton of Mission Viejo, Calif., a 2008 Olympian in open water, won the 1500-meter freestyle in 16:23.96. Ashley Twichell was second in 16:25.25 and Andreina Pinto of Gator Swim Club was third in 16:38.64.

Stanford senior Chad LaTourette, also of Mission Viejo, won the 800-meter freestyle in 7:58.91. Connor Jaeger of Club Wolverine was second in 8:00.81 and Sean Ryan was third in 8:07.43.

Michael Phelps told reporters on Thursday that he planned to swim only the 200-meter freestyle on Friday and 200-meter butterfly on Saturday in Charlotte before leaving for a pre-Olympic media summit in Dallas on Sunday. Phelps will swim against Ryan Lochte on Friday.

In other key matchups, Rebecca Soni and Jessica Hardy will race in the 100-meter breaststroke and Dana Vollmer will swim against Natalie Coughlin in the 100-meter butterfly.

The four-day meet continues today with prelims at 9 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m. The meet will be webcast live on usaswimming.org.

SOFLO's Hunter, Oliver Swim Career-Best Times

South Florida Aquatic Club's Amber Hunter and Tiffany Oliver turned in career-best times Thursday night on the opening day of the Florida State Spring Invite at Morcom Aquatic Center in Tallahassee.

Hunter, 16, swam the 200-meter freestyle in 2:16.5, bettering her previous best of 2:17.30 and 100-meter butterfly in 1:07.9 bettering her previous best of 1:08.31.

Oliver swam the 200-meter freestyle in a best time of 2:04.

Two-time Olympian Alia Atkinson came close to her personal best in the 100-meter breaststroke in 1:08.91, just off her best time of 1:08.89 and 1:02.5 in the 100-meter butterfly, off her best time of 1:02.40.

SOFLO's Cooper Academic All-American

Florida State sophomore Melissa Cooper was among 12 Seminoles named to the All-ACC Academic Team. Swimmers had to have a GPA of 3.0 while maintaining a 3.0 cumulative average during their academic careers. After transferring from Texas A&M, Cooper enjoyed a successful season in her first year with the Seminoles.

Dennis Pursley Named Alabama Coach

Former Alabama swimmer Dennis Pursley, currently head of British Swimming, will return to his alma mater after the 2012 London Olympic Games to coach the program. Pursley was USA Swimming National Team Director for fourteen years. He has been credited with turning around Great Britain's swim program headed into the Games.

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