Olympians Matt Grevers (Lake Forest, Ill.) and Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) won two gold medals Monday on the final night of competition at the Southern California Grand Prix of Swimming in Long Beach, Calif. Grevers and Mary DeScenza (Naperville, Ill.) earned the men’s and women’s high-point award for their overall performance at the meet, while Tucson Ford Dealers Aquatics took home the meet’s overall team title.
Grevers won the men’s 100y fly and 200y IM to solidify his claim to the men’s high-point award. The men’s 100y fly saw a close race between Grevers, Lochte and Japan’s Masayuki Kishida. Grevers took the lead in the final 50-yards to win gold in 45.98. Lochte earned the silver with a time of 46.51 and Kishida took home the bronze in 46.67.
Grevers’ second win of the night came in the 200y IM. Grevers edged out Tunisian Olympic gold medalist Ous Mellouli to win gold in 1:43.05, setting a meet record in the event. Mellouli finished in 1:43.63 for the silver and Japan’s Hidemasa Sano claimed the bronze in 1:43.69.
World record-holder Lochte earned gold and set a meet record in the men’s 100y back with a time of 45.44. Grevers finished second in 45.69 and Ben Hesen (Jeffersonville, Ind.) placed third in 46.12. Lochte’s second gold medal of the night and fourth gold medal of the meet came in the men’s 100y breast. Lochte won gold in 54.32, Cody Miller (Las Vegas) won silver in 54.77, and Carl Mickelson (Chandler, Ariz.) took the bronze in 56.65.
DeScenza (Naperville, Ill.) finished her already stellar meet with one gold and one silver medal on the final night of competition. DeScenza, who won the meet’s high-point award, won the women’s 100y fly in 52.06. Yumi So (La Crescenta, Calif.) placed second in 54.52 and Lyndsay DePaul (Orange, Calif.) was third in 55.06.
The women’s 100y back saw a close race between Cindy Tran (Westminster, Calif.) and DeScenza. Tran lead at the halfway point and held on to the lead to win gold in 52.52. DeScenza claimed the silver in 53.06 and Roxane Akradi (Eagan, Minn.) earned the bronze in 54.99.
DeScenza also finished the meet on top of the point standings of the USA Swimming Grand Prix Series, which awards the overall series winner a $20,000 grand prize. She currently leads the field with a total of 61 points.
Chloe Sutton (Mission Viejo, Calif.) won her third gold medal of the meet with a win in the 1650y free in a meet-record time of 15:56.97. Singapore’s Lynette Lim placed second in 16.29.93 and DePaul was third in 16:38.35.
In the men’s 1650y free, Mellouli led the field throughout the race to win gold in 14:55.97. Jon Daniec (Mission Viejo, Calif.) held off Evan Virtue (Roseville, Calif.) for the silver, finishing with a time of 15:19.02. Virtue finished in 15.19.37, less than four tenths behind Daniec.
In other races, Caitlin Leverenz (Tucson, Ariz.) won gold in the women’s 200y IM with a time of 1:59.39. DePaul was second in 2:00.83 and Meghan Hawthorne (Granada Hills, Calif.) was third in 2:02.32. In the women’s 100y breast, Sweden’s Rebecca Ejdervik won gold in 59.96. Keri Hehn (Fargo, N.D.), who won gold in the 200y breast Sunday, was second in 1:00.70 and Angie Haven (Monrovia, Calif.) placed third in 1:01.21.
The USA Swimming Grand Prix continues February 13-16 with the 2009 Missouri Long Course Grand Prix in Columbia, Mo.