Swim Fans, November 12, 13, 14, next Friday, Saturday and Sunday Minnesotans and all Midwesterners are provided a real treat. The USA Swimming 2010-2011Grand Prix Series kicks off right here in Minneapolis.
The Grand Prix series consists of seven swim meets between now and next June. They are held at major swimming venues all over the country. Three of the events are in the Central US. One in Missouri and another in Indianapolis, but we don’t have to go that far, the kick-off series event is right here at the University of MN Aquatic Center.
The meet is a prelim/finals format with preliminaries swum in the morning and the top 24 times returning for the evening finals. Points are awarded for finish place and the points are totaled through the entire seven meet series. The Swimmer with the most points after the final meet in June 2011 wins $20,000.
The Grand Prix sees many USA National Team members come to maintain their racing edge. Last Year in Minneapolis, Olympic Open Water Distance swimmer Chloe Sutton stole the show. She built up a huge buffer of points that she rode all the way to the final event winning her the $20,000 grand prize.
The qualifying times are such that many very good club swimmers in the 16 and over age bracket can qualify. Midwest swimmers turn out to see how they measure up. Or they may be an Olympic hopeful wanting to have the opportunity to swim in the same event as an Olympic star. The Psyc sheet will be posted soon and I will try and make it available here. There have been statements that both Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps will be in attendance. The Grand Prix series is an excellent opportunity for them to start augmenting their training as they gear up for next summer’s World Championships. Also in attendance will be the University of Minnesota swimmers. They enjoy the opportunity to engage the US National team members and look at it as almost a defense of their home water against a visiting team. They can get quite boisterous cheering for their teammates as they go head-to-head with the Olympic Stars. It is truly a lot of fun watching them and the racing.
So Swim fans, get yourself pulled together and make plans to attend one of the sessions. More information can be found at usaswimming.org under the Events menu, click on Grand Prix Series. An opportunity like this happens once a year. You can watch them on the television in the Olympics, or you can see them in person, up close and very likely score a picture and an autograph!
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