COLUMBIA, Missouri, February 15. THE third day of the USA Swimming Grand Prix held in Missouri featured Mary DeScenza setting a pool and meet record over long course meters en route to a double triumph.
Women's 800 free
Open water Olympian Chloe Sutton earned a confidence boosting win over Olympian Katie Hoff with an 8:30.19 to claim the distance crown. Hoff wound up stopping the clock in 8:32.00 to take second. Savannah King rounded out the podium in 8:40.58.
Men's 1500 free
Olympic gold medalist Ous Mellouli won the metric mile going away with a time of 15:16.12. Sergiy Fesenko, who recently became a married man, celebrated with a second-place time of 15:20.19. Sebastien Rouault completed an international podium with a third-place 15:28.58.
Women's 200 back
Grand Prix golden girl Mary DeScenza seized another gold medal during the series with a winning time of 2:11.06. Lauren Lavigna touched out Elizabeth Pelton, 2:13.79 to 2:13.83, in a close call for second place.
Men's 200 back
Ryan Lochte dominated the event with a swift time of 1:57.73, clearing 30 seconds on almost each split. Marco Loughran touched second in 2:00.30, while Nick Thoman clocked a third-place 2:02.14.
Women's 100 free
Amanda Weir crushed the championship finale with a winning time of 55.13. Petra Klosova finished the event in second with a 56.22, while Sascha Van den Branden placed just behind teammate Klosova in third with a 56.46.
Men's 100 free
Fred Bousquet added the 100 free to his 50 free victory from earlier in the meet when he dropped a time of 48.62. Brent Hayden wound up taking second in 48.91, while Adam Brown clinched third in 49.46. Notably, Ryan Lochte won the consolation finale in 50.58.
Women's 200 fly
Mary DeScenza claimed the pool and meet record in the event with a sterling time of 2:07.46. That swim eclipsed the 2:08.22 set by Kim Vandenberg in 2007. Tanya Hunks took second in 2:12.54, while Felicia Lee touched out North Baltimore teammate Katie Hoff, 2:14.24 to 2:14.76, for third.
Men's 200 fly
Alex Vanderkaay did not have much competition in the race as he cruised to victory in 1:58.71. Tom Shields touched out Juarez Ramirez, 2:03.92 to 2:03.98, for second place.
Relays
The SMU team of Sascha Van den Branden, Justine Clark, Therese Svendsen and Petra Klosova set the women's 400 freestyle relay pool and meet record with a time of 3:49.60. That time crushed the pool record of 3:53.74 set by Missouri in 2006 and the meet record of 3:55.03 set by Lakeside Swim Team last year.
Tucson Ford's Simon Burnett, Bart Steninger, Masayuki Kishida and Adam Ritter won the men's 400 free relay in 3:25.55.