With the conclusion of the 2012-2013 USA Swimming Grand Prix Series this past Sunday (June 2nd), Ryan Lochte and Missy Franklin came out on top. As it turns out, participation continues to be the key to success: Lochte swam at every Grand Prix meet on the circuit, and Franklin swam at everyone aside from Charlotte. That meant that even though Lochte didn’t have his greatest season ever (he was on a two-meet winless streak until exploding in Santa Clara), he still was able to take the overall title.
Nearly $150,000 were rewarded to top swimmers throughout the series. For each Olympic-distance event, the top three swimmers are rewarded:
- First place: 5 points and $500
- Second place: 3 points and $300
- Third place: 1 point and $100
Lochte finished as the top male contender at the meets with 68 points, earning him a total of $6,800, beating second place swimmer Tyler Clary by 15 points. His top times from the series are below.
100 m Fly: 52.29 (SC)
200 m Free: 1:49.81 (Char.)
100 m Back: 54.95 (SC)
200 m IM: 1:58.07 (SC)
200 m Back: 1:57.51 (SC)
400 m IM: 4:11.36 (SC)
100 m Breast: 1:04.83 (Aust.)
Minnesota Grand Prix (Yards)
200 Y Free: 1:35.15
50 Y Free: 21.48
100 Y Back: 46.21
200 Y Back: 1:41.43
100 Y Fly: 46.73
200 Y IM: 1:35.15
Franklin took the top female spot, placing 103 points. She was a whopping 65 points in front of second place finisher Becca Mann, who had 38 points. Franklin won a total of $10,300, but she turned the money down in order to keep her NCAA eligibility for her future at the University of California. Her best times from the series can be found below:
100 m Free: 54.27 (Mesa)
200 m Free: 1:56.96 (Mesa)
50 m Free: 25.26 (Orlando)
100 m Back: 59.34 (Orlando)
200 m Back: 2:07.31 (Austin)
200 m IM: 2:12.57 (Austin)
100 m Fly: 1:01.20 (Orlando)
400 m Free: 4:12.56 (Austin)
Minnesota Grand Prix (Yards)
200 Free: 1:42.28
50 Free: 22.15
100 Back: 50.97
200 Back: 1:50.10
100 Free: 48.31
Though there are no overall cash prizes awarded to Grand Prix winners this year, Lochte and Franklin will be awarded a trophy in recognition of their achievements in Indianapolis at the World Championship Trials. The two also win bragging rights, which are always fun to have.
The final top 5 standings, thanks to USA Swimming, are below.
random question…Has Connor Dwyer officially/unofficially switched over to Bob Bowman now? just saw a tweet that he’s in “Michael Phelp’s taper pad”….so I’m assuming Baltimore.
Kalisz would be a great IM training partner (which would benefit both)…especially since Lochte is on the fence about the event. Wonder who Beisel trains with though?
Feel like you can’t train the 4IM without someone of similar speed pushing you.
In one of the videos on swimswam he confirmed he was staying with Bowman for the summer and go from there
I wonder how Michael phelps did it for all those yeas then!
Because Phelps was a freak of nature and had a tremendous drive to dominate for a number of years
You don’t need someone fast with you. Just the old fashion pace clock or the newer digital will do.
True that you don’t necessarily need one…but it certainly helps. Phelps said himself that having Kalisz as a training partner going into London was extremely helpful…especially since he took such a long break after Beijing and lacked a bit of motivation.
Just read up on Conor Dwyer (fascinated by his recent drops in time)…didn’t know he had such a late start to swimming. Apparently he swam at Iowa for two years before swimming for Troy during the summer, and then asking if he could stay at Florida. That’s gutsy. Good for him! But anyways…because he started so late…I feel like he has much more potential for even more time drops. Very excited to see what he has in the future.
Can someone explain this new system to me? I feel like lochte pulled off a few wins at the last meet, and then in Orlando but thats it, where as some of he other guys really stood out all season. Is this new system based on how many events entered or something? cause this makes no sense to me.
Lisa – the top section explains the scoring. Lochte may not have won a ton of events, but he swam at every meet, and swam a lot of races (picked up quite a few 2nds and 3rds), so that boosted his scoring load.
I’d personally like to see them score it out to 8 places…would really make those A-Finals (and prelims for that matter) more interesting.
I’m surprised with the men’s top five. I had a feeling that Lochte and Clary would be coming out on top, but I’m more impressed that Ervin and Adrian were in the top five. The post Phelps world of swimming is going to be very interesting.