Phelps, Coughlin and Lochte to Compete in Charlotte

COLORADO SPRINGS, Co. - USA Swimming just announced the headliners for the upcoming 2010 Charlotte Ultraswim Grand Prix.  A star-studded line-up of Olympians, National Champions and NCAA Champions will make the Mechlenburg County Auqatic Center their competitive arena for an action-packed weekend.  Swimnetwork will be there to deliver all the swimming coverage through a live web-cast, on-demand videos, exclusive athlete interviews, and plenty of other coverage throughout the swim meet.  It is sure to be a big meet, with a big grand prize so stay tunned to see who takes home the medals and the money.

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Twelve U.S. Olympians and more than 15 members of the U.S. National Team, including Olympic gold medalists Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md.), Natalie Coughlin (Vallejo, Calif.), Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) and Aaron Peirsol (Irvine, Calif.), will compete at the Charlotte UltraSwim Grand Prix, May 13-16, in Charlotte, N.C.

Other swimmers competing in Charlotte include Olympians Rebecca Soni (Plainsboro, N.J.), Eric Shanteau (Lilburn, Ga.), Peter Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich.) and Allison Schmitt (Canton, Mich.). Charlotte native and 2008 Olympian Ricky Berens will also join the star-studded lineup, as will SwimMac Team Elite swimmers Cullen Jones (New Brunswick, N.J.), Nick Thoman (Cincinnati, Ohio), Nick Brunelli (Mansfield, Mass.) and Justine Mueller (Monroe, Mich.).

The Charlotte UltraSwim Grand Prix is the sixth stop in the 2009-2010 USA Swimming Grand Prix Series, which will award the highest-scoring swimmer of the series with a $20,000 prize. Swimmers are awarded five points for a gold medal, three points for a silver medal and one point for a bronze medal.  National Teamer Chloe Sutton (Mission Viejo, Calif.) is the current Grand Prix Series leader with 83 points and will look to extend her lead in Charlotte. A leaderboard can be found online.

Also expected to compete in Charlotte are Olympians Elizabeth Beisel (Saunderstown, R.I.) and Amanda Weir (Lawrenceville, Ga.), as well as National Teamers Jessica Hardy (Long Beach, Calif.), Dan Madwed (Towson, Md.), Alex Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich.), Dagny Knuston (Minot, N.D.), Tyler Clary (Riverside, Calif.), Rachel Bootsma (Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Erika Erndl (Naples, Fla.).

The competition will follow the traditional meet schedule of morning prelims and evening finals. The full schedule can be found online. Finals begin at 4 p.m. ET on Thursday and at 6 p.m. ET, Friday through Sunday. Prelims begin at 9 a.m. ET, Friday through Sunday. Tickets for the meet, taking place at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center, can be purchased on the Charlotte Ultraswim website. Prelim tickets are $10/session and tickets for finals are $15/session.

Competition footage from the Charlotte UltraSwim will be broadcast by both Universal Sports and Swimnetwork.com. Universal Sports will air footage from the finals Friday, May 14 through Sunday, May 16 on its digital cable channel. Swimnetwork.com will provide a LIVE online stream of the Universal Sports broadcast. In addition, Swimnetwork.com will webcast the finals on Thursday, May 13, and the prelims from each day of competition. Swimnetwork.com will also feature on-demand footage from finals as well as behind-the-scenes interviews from the pool deck.

The Grand Prix Series serves as an opportunity for swimmers to race against some of the best competition in the country, as they continue their preparation for the 2010 ConocoPhillips National Championships and the 2010 Pan Pacific Championships, both of which will take place in Irvine, Calif. The last two stops of the Grand Prix series are in Santa Clara, Calif., and Los Angeles.