PHOENIX, Arizona, May 11. ON today's Race Day Swimming World correspondent David Rieder analyzes the races on the third night of finals at the Arena Grand Prix in Charlotte, North Carolina, known as the Charlotte UltraSwim.
The race of the night for Rieder was the men's 50 meter freestyle. Ervin took the win with a 22.01, matching the 22.01 he clocked at the Mediterranean International Meet earlier this year. Auburn's Marcelo Chierighini earned second in 22.09, while SwimMAC's Cullen Jones took third overall in 22.16 after smashing the field off the start.
Chierighini and Jones were also at the top of the podium in the men's 50 butterfly, the last event of the night. Chierghini took the win with a 23.72, and Jones took second with a 24.03.
Dana Vollmer's posted a top 10 time in the 50 butterfly on the women's side, winning the event in a 26.18, matching Marieke Guehrer for seventh in the world. Vollmer nearly broke the 26 second mark for just the third time in her career. Last year, she managed a smoking 25.80 lifetime best at the Charlotte UltraSwim.
The night also produced more titles for Trojan teammates Jessica Hardy and Mike Alexandrov. Hardy captured her third title of the meet in the women's 50 free. After a breaststroke double last night in the 50 and 100-meter events, Hardy blazed her way to a winning effort of 25.09, just outside the world's top 10 currently anchored by Brittany Elmslie's 24.91 from Australian Nationals.
Alexandrov kept pace with his Trojan teammate Jessica Hardy, clinching his third title of the meet in the 200 breaststroke. After putting up an easy speed 2:16.74 in prelims to make the finale, Alexandrov turned on the heat from lane two in the finale with a 2:13.60 for the win.
Be sure to visit the Grand Prix landing page for video interviews, recaps and previews from Charlotte!
