Missy Franklin, Michael Phelps Headline the Pro Swim Series Santa Clara

Olympic gold medalists and world-record holders Missy Franklin (Centennial, Colo.) and Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md.) are expected to lead a group of more than 50 members of the USA Swimming National Team headlining the field for the June 18-21 Arena Pro Swim Series (#ArenaProSwim) at Santa Clara.

Additional individual Olympic gold medalists expected to swim at the George F. Haines International Swim Center include Berkeley-based Nathan Adrian (Bremerton, Wash.), Natalie Coughlin (Vallejo, Calif.) and Anthony Ervin (Valencia, Calif.) of California Aquatics, as well as Tyler Clary (Riverside, Calif.), Matt Grevers (Lake Forest, Ill.) and Allison Schmitt (Canton, Mich.).

The action opens with a timed-final distance session at 4 p.m. PDT on Thursday, June 18. Friday, June 19, through Sunday, June 21, prelims will begin at 9 a.m. PDT, followed by finals at 5 p.m. PDT.

Universal Sports Network will air exclusive live television coverage of the meet Friday, June 19 and Saturday, June 20 at 8 p.m. EDT (5 p.m. PDT) with play-by-play announcer Ted Robinson and analyst Rowdy Gaines calling the action from Santa Clara. Additionally, a webcast of the complete meet will be available at usaswimming.org.

Tickets are required for each session, and all- and single-session passes are on sale now. Full meet information can be found at usaswimming.org.

The four-day meet serves as the sixth and final stop of the 2014-15 Arena Pro Swim Series – formerly known as the Arena Grand Prix Series. Defending series champions Conor Dwyer (Winnetka, Ill.) and Katinka Hosszu of Hungary enter the 2014-15 finale as the series leaders with 61 and 63 points, respectively. Just a half-point separates the top American women, as Caitlin Leverenz (Tucson, Ariz.) holds a 39-38.5 edge over Elizabeth Beisel (Saunderstown, R.I.).

Additional local standouts expected to compete include current and former Stanford University swimmers Maya DiRado (Santa Rosa, Calif.), Simone Manuel (Sugar Land, Texas) and Lia Neal (Brooklyn, N.Y.), as well as several members of Cal’s 2015 women’s NCAA title-winning team, including Franklin, Rachel Bootsma (Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Elizabeth Pelton (Baltimore, Md.).

A number of current Cal men’s swimmers are slated to swim in Santa Clara, including the likes of National Team members Ryan Murphy (Jacksonville, Fla.), Jacob Pebley (Corvallis, Ore.) and Josh Prenot (Santa Maria, Calif.).

The Arena Pro Swim Series at Santa Clara is the sixth and final stop of the 2014-15 Arena Pro Swim Series, which was formerly known as the Arena Grand Prix Series prior to a January 2015 rebranding announcement. The series provides the nation’s best swimmers the opportunity to face top-flight competition on U.S. soil with twice the prize money as last season on the line.

“Using the Arena Pro Swim Series name makes it immediately recognizable to fans and media that our sport’s absolute best athletes are racing in the hometowns of swimmers and sports fans,” said USA Swimming National Team Director Frank Busch. “At the same time, anyone who posts a qualifying time is eligible, just as it has been, so it creates a unique opportunity for high school and collegiate swimmers to challenge themselves against top competition. In many ways, it’s like playing in the same game as LeBron James or a Tour event with Tiger Woods.”

As part of USA Swimming’s partnership with swimwear leader Arena, the Arena Pro Swim Series features $300,000 in overall prize money. Eligible swimmers may earn awards for top-three finishes in all individual Olympic events across the series. At each meet, $1,000 will be provided for a first-place finish, $600 for second and $200 for third. In addition to the single-event prize money, the overall male and female winners of the season-long Series will earn a $10,000 bonus.

For the second consecutive season, USA Swimming partner BMW will award the grand prize of a one-year lease of a BMW ActiveHybrid 3 to the highest-scoring eligible male and female U.S. swimmers.

Male and female overall Arena Pro Swim Series champions will be honored at the conclusion of the 2014-15 series based on the number of points accumulated throughout the six meets. Participants will be awarded points in each individual Olympic event throughout the duration of the Series (Five points for first, three for second, one point for third place).

Complementing the professional athletes, high school and collegiate swimmers will be able challenge their abilities against top competition without compromising their NCAA eligibility. USA Swimming received approval from the NCAA for the Arena Pro Swim Series title.

Swimming news courtesy of USA Swimming.

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lazy observer
8 years ago

Jiggs, why would we Americans not use swum? It is the only grammatically correct option in the sentence above. To use the simple perfect Rishabh would need to say “three times Phelps swam…”. But with the “has” in there it is past perfect and requires “swum.” That is the rule on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, and Bobo is in the right.

bobo gigi
8 years ago

Murphy vs Grevers in the 100 back 😎
Adrian 50 free/100 free 😎
Michael Phelps 100 fly/200IM 😎
Missy 100 back/200 back 😎
Missy vs Allison 200 free 😎
Simone 50 free/100 free 😎
Rachel 100 back 😎
Lia 100 free 😎
Maya 400 IM 😎

Not in that list yet, but probably Miss Weitzeil too, no? She’s a Californian girl.

Markster
Reply to  bobo gigi
8 years ago

Murphy vs Clary 200 back

TheTroubleWithX
Reply to  bobo gigi
8 years ago

Dwyer v. Phelps v. Prenot in the 200 IM.

jarrettbrown
8 years ago

I really can’t stand the fact that no one gets universal sports at all. The USA Swimming stream is terrible too. I wish that someone would realize that this is a problem and do something about it.

bobo gigi
Reply to  jarrettbrown
8 years ago

And why does Universal Sports broadcast live always only 2 days out of 3 at every Grand Prix?
Always a mystery to me.

TheTroubleWithX
Reply to  bobo gigi
8 years ago

If I had to guess, it’s because they expect more people will be watching on Friday and Saturday nights.

Alternative theory: Thursday night is Rowdy’s poker night.

Take your pick. 🙂

Jiggs
Reply to  bobo gigi
8 years ago

I´ve noticed your English get better over the years Bobo, have you been taking some kind of lessons? I don´t think you´ll have much luck getting the Americans to incorporate ¨swum¨ too much though. Should we give you little tips here and there?
Here you should write ¨…always broadcast live only…¨ (adverbs of frequency before the main verb, except for forms of be)
All you really need to do is use more simple past and really know when to use present perfect.
It might even help reduce your downvotes (???) BTW, I don´t vote – you can´t do it on the mobile. If I did, I´d give you some upvotes.

We Love Phelps
8 years ago

i wanna see MP breaks 52 sec barrier in the 100fly at this meet…come on Michael!
looks like he has no competition at all in both the 1fly & 2im since there’s no Shields no Phillips no Conger no Dwyer racing against him in these races. Can’t wait to see MP swims his own races under the sunny Santa Clara. never forget that he’s a genius in swimming.
😀 😀 GO MP!

happy to see some of my fav girls Coughlin, Franklin, Manuel… competing in SC as well!!! 😀 it’s gonna be an exciting meet as usual.

Rishabh Meswani
Reply to  We Love Phelps
8 years ago

The last three times Phelps has swam the 100 butterfly, 2009, 2011, and 2014, Phelps went 52. in the event.

bobo gigi
Reply to  Rishabh Meswani
8 years ago

has swum 😉

Team rwanda
Reply to  We Love Phelps
8 years ago

“looks like he has no competition at all in both the 1fly & 2im since there’s no Shields no Phillips no Conger no Dwyer racing against him in these races”

You forgot the big man Lochte who would be an even bigger competitor.

hswimmer
8 years ago

I expect to see some great times! Times are always better when there’s more competition.

Markster
8 years ago

Finally! I love when Ryan Murphy races Grevers and Clary

About Lauren Neidigh

Lauren Neidigh

Lauren Neidigh is a former NCAA swimmer at the University of Arizona (2013-2015) and the University of Florida (2011-2013). While her college swimming career left a bit to be desired, her Snapchat chin selfies and hot takes on Twitter do not disappoint. She's also a high school graduate of The …

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