Natalie Coughlin will be amongst a lineup of big-name athletes participating in the Austin Grand Prix this weekend.
This Week in U.S. Swimming returns this week with big news on the Austin Grand Prix and an update on the college front.
The Austin Grand Prix will feature Natalie Coughlin, Aaron Peirsol and other major swimming athletes. Coughlin will be among a number of big-name athletes who will compete this weekend at the Austin Grand Prix, held at the University of Texas. According to the American-Statesman, other major participants include Katie Hoff, Aaron Peirsol, Dana Vollmer, Cullen Jones, Kathleen Hershey and Garrett Weber-Gale.
More information about the USA Swimming Grand Prix series can be found here. The current series leader is Chloe Sutton (55 points) and will participate in the Austin event, according to about.com. Rebecca Soni and Matt Grevers are tied for second place with 26 points apiece. William Copeland is in third with 22 points.
Austin is the fourth out of eight stops on the series.
Julia Smit sets American record in the 200 IM. Smit had an incredible swim in the 200 IM at the Pac-10 Championships held last Thursday. The Stanford swimmer’s time of 1:52.31 surpassed her old record by more than a half second. Amazingly, Smit was not fully tapered for the Pac 10 meet, meaning that she could potentially swim faster times in future meets.
Stanford won the Women’s Pac 10 Swimming and Diving Championships. The University of California came in second place with the Southern Cal finishing third.
An update on the Raegan Koebler fundraiser. Koebler, who was covered in late-January post, originally pledged to raise enough money to support the Haitian earthquake and feed 100 orphans for a week. It turns out that she has surpassed her goal. The State-Journal Register reports that Koebler’s fundraiser raised more than $215,000.
Raegan is teaming up with one of her friends, Ruthie, in the creation of the Rae of Sunshine club. Koebler’s efforts have not gone unnoticed, as she was recently featured in a USA Swimming story.
Standout diver sets school records and makes American history. Michael Wright, a diver at the University of Tennessee, was covered in a feature story by Mary Wilson of the Tennessee Journalist this past week. Wright is one of the most talented divers in the nation. He is the first African-American to win a USA Diving National Championship Title.
His goals include competing in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic games.
Informational: What is “tapering” exactly? Most experienced swimmers and coaches are familiar with the term, but casual fans or followers of swimming may not fully understand the concept of tapering. John Tuscano of the Patriot-News has complied an excellent article covering what he describes as “one of sports’ most complex training processes“.
If you’ve been wanting to understand more about how major swimming athletes prepare for meets or are just curious, the article should give you a good background on the approach.
Tags: Austin Grand Prix, Julia Smit, Matt Grevers, Michael Wright, Raegan Koebler, Tapering
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