Austin Grand Prix

Some of the top swimmers in the world are convening in Austin, Texas for the next stop of the USA Swimming Grand Prix series. It is by far the biggest meet of the Grand Prix series so far, with over 1,000 swimmers competing. Because of that, there will be five heats of finals in each event. The meet has a unique format of short course prelims and long course finals, which could make some events interesting, with primarily long course swimmers potentially missing A-final swims because of weak because of poor short course swimming. Among those thousand swimmers are the top stars in every event, as only five events lack a swimmer who has been ranked in the top ten in the world in 2008 and/or 2009. And those five events are NOT weak, as Chloe Sutton leads the field 800 free, as does Dana Vollmer in the 200 fly, while Robert Margalis is the class of the field in the 400 IM, and Alex Vanderkaay leads the way in the 200 fly and 200 IM. Without further ado, some predictions:

Thursday, March 4
Women's 500y/400m Free
1 - Katie Hoff, FAST
2 - Chloe Sutton, Mission Viejo
3 - Samantha Tucker, Longhorn

Women's 100 Fly
1 - Dana Vollmer, California Aquatics
2 - Christine Magnuson, Tucson Ford
3 - Natalie Coughlin, California Aquatics

Men's 100 Fly
1 - Masayuki Kishida, Tucson Ford
2 - Matt Grevers, Tucson Ford
3 - Joe Bartoch, Swim Ontario

Men's 500y/400m Free
1 - Peter Vanderkaay, Club Wolverine
2 - Michael Klueh, Longhorn
3 - Matt Patton, Club Wolverine

Women's 200 IM
1 - Ariana Kukors, FAST
2 - Justine Mueller, SwimMAC Carolina
3 - Erika Erndl, Swim Florida

Men's 200 IM
1 - Alex Vanderkaay, Club Wolverine
2 - Nick D'Innocenzo, University of Texas
3 - Robert Margalis, FAST

Women's 50 Free
1 - Jessica Hardy, Trojan
2 - Lara Jackson, Tucson Ford
3 - Amanda Weir, Swim Atlanta

Men's 50 Free
1 - Cesar Cielo, Auburn Aquatics
2 - Cullen Jones, SwimMAC Carolina
3 - George Bovell, Auburn Aquatics

Friday, March 5
Women's 400 IM
1 - Katie Hoff, FAST
2 - Ariana Kukors, FAST
3 - Justine Mueller, SwimMAC Carolina

Men's 400 IM
1 - Robert Margalis, FAST
2 - Alex Vanderkaay, Club Wolverine
3 - Ian Clark, SwimMAC Carolina

Women's 100 Breast
1 - Rebecca Soni, Trojan
2 - Jessica Hardy, Trojan
3 - Megan Jendrick, KING

Men's 100 Breast
1 - Mark Gangloff, Auburn Aquatics
2 - Mike Alexandrov, Tucson Ford
3 - Henrique Barbosa, Auburn Aquatics

Women's 100 Back
1 - Natalie Coughlin, California Aquatics
2 - Margaret Hoelzer, FAST
3 - Ariana Kukors, FAST

Men's 100 Back
1 - Aaron Peirsol, Longhorn
2 - Nick Thoman, SwimMAC Carolina
3 - Matt Grevers, Tucson Ford

Women's 200 Free
1 - Dana Vollmer, California Aquatics
2 - Chloe Sutton, Mission Viejo
3 - Christine Marshall, Auburn Aquatics

Men's 200 Free
1 - Peter Vanderkaay, Club Wolverine
2 - Michael Klueh, Longhorn
3 - Matt Patton, Club Wolverine

Saturday, March 6
Women's 200 Back
1 - Margaret Hoelzer, FAST
2 - Katie Hoff, FAST
3 - Madison White, Crow Canyon

Men's 200 Back
1 - Aaron Peirsol, Longhorn
2 - Nick Thoman, SwimMAC Carolina
3 - Matt Grevers, Tucson Ford

Women's 100 Free
1 - Dana Vollmer, California Aquatics
2 - Amanda Weir, Swim Atlanta
3 - Natalie Coughlin, California Aquatics

Men's 100 Free
1 - Cesar Cielo, Auburn Aquatics
2 - Matt Grevers, Tucson Ford
3 - Garrett Weber-Gale, Longhorn

Women's 1,000y/800m Free
1 - Chloe Sutton, Mission Viejo
2 - Lindsay Seemann, Swim Ontario
3 - Sarah Henry, Raleigh Swimming

Men's 1,650y/1,500m Free
1 - Peter Vanderkaay, Club Wolverine
2 - Michael Klueh, Longhorn
3 - Zane Grothe, BCH Heatwave

Women's 200 Breast
1 - Rebecca Soni, Trojan
2 - Megan Jendrick, KING
3 - Katy Freeman, Santa Barbara

Men's 200 Breast
1 - Henrique Barbosa, Auburn Aquatics
2 - Mike Alexandrov, Tucson Ford
3 - Bart Steninger, Tucson Ford

Women's 200 Fly
1 - Dana Vollmer, California Aquatics
2 - Whitney Myers, FAST
3 - Kelly Nelson, Unattached

Men's 200 Fly
1 - Alex Vanderkaay, Club Wolverine
2 - Matt Patton, Club Wolverine
3 - Aaron Peirsol, Longhorn