Hosszu Wins Double Gold at the Arena Grand Prix at Orlando
Hosszu Wins Double Gold at the Arena Grand Prix at Orlando
A total of four meet records broken on the first night of competition
ORLANDO, Fla. - Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu won two events Thursday on the first day of competition at the Arena Grand Prix at Orlando. The World Championship medalist won the 200m free and broke the meet record with her victorious 400m IM performance. The three-day meet, taking place at the YMCA Aquatic Center, features a strong field of both U.S. and international swimmers.
Hosszu won the first event of the night, the 200m free, in 1:58.09. Fellow Hungarian Agnes Mutina placed second in 2:00.50, third went to Chloe Sutton (Mission Viejo, Calif.) in 2:00.61.
Hosszu won the 400m IM in 4:39.85, breaking the meet record by almost two seconds. Vien Nguyen (Vietnam) was second with a time of 4:41.68 and Caitlin Leverenz (Tucson, Ariz.) rounded out the top three with a time of 4:44.68.
Mike Alexandrov (Champaign, Ill.) won the 100m breaststroke, out-touching Felipe Lima of Brazil at the wall. Alexandrov finished in 1:01.71. Lima took second with a time of 1:01.85 and Brad Craig (Midland, Mich.) placed third with a time of 1:02.68.
Yannick Lebherz of Germany broke the meet record in the men’s 200m freestyle with a time of 1:50.27. Michael Weiss (Reno, Nev.) and Dion Dreesens of the Netherlands held onto second and third, respectively, with times of 1:50.31 and 1:50.77.
Alia Atkinson of Jamaica stunned the crowd by swimming a meet-record time of 1:07.15 in the 100m breaststroke. She was almost two seconds ahead of the next finisher and swam the second-fastest time in the world this year. Laura Sogar (Exeter, R.I.) took second with a time of 1:09.00 and Katie Meili (Colleyville, Texas) was third with 1:10.00.
In the 100m butterfly, Katerine Savard of Canada won the race with a time of 58.50, breaking the meet record. Fellow Canadian Audrey Lacroix took second with a time of 59.27, while Claire Donahue (Lenoir City, Tenn.) earned a third-place finish with a time of 59.60.
The men’s 100m fly was won by Albert Subirats of Venezuela in 53.43. Joseph Schooling of Singapore placed second in 53.69 and Luis Martinez of South Florida was third in 54.58.
The final individual event of the night, the 400m IM, saw another meet record fall from Hungary’s David Verraszto, who won the event with a time of 4:16.03. National Team members Tyler Clary (Riverside, Calif.) and Michael Weiss (Reno, Nev.) followed for second and third with times of 4:20.70 and 4:23.67, respectively.
The Arena Grand Prix at Orlando continues Friday, with prelims beginning at 9 a.m. ET followed by finals at 6 p.m. ET. The action will be available on Universal Sports at 6 p.m. ET. A live stream of the competition, along with complete results and meet information, is also available online via usaswimming.org.
The Arena Grand Prix Series offers swimmers the opportunity to take home prize money for top finishes in all individual Olympic-distance events. In total, $150,000 in prize money is available to be distributed over the course of the six-meet series. At each meet, $500 will be awarded for a first-place finish, $300 for second and $100 for third in all individual events. Arena is serving as the title sponsor for the Arena Grand Prix Series for the second straight year.
About USA Swimming
As the National Governing Body for the sport of swimming in the United States, USA Swimming is a 400,000-member service organization that promotes the culture of swimming by creating opportunities for swimmers and coaches of all backgrounds to participate and advance in the sport through clubs, events and education. Our membership is comprised of swimmers from the age group level to the Olympic Team, as well as coaches and volunteers. USA Swimming is responsible for selecting and training teams for international competition including the Olympic Games, and strives to serve the sport through its core objectives: Build the base, Promote the sport, Achieve competitive success. For more information, visit www.usaswimming.org.
