COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Olympic champions Missy Franklin (Centennial, Colo.), Katie Ledecky (Bethesda, Md.), Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) and Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md.) highlight the nearly 50 USA Swimming National Team members expected to compete at the Nov. 12-14 Arena Pro Swim Series at Minneapolis at the University of Minnesota’s Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center.
The long-course meters action begins Thursday, Nov. 12, and continues through Saturday, Nov. 14, with daily prelims at 9 a.m. Central followed by finals at 6 p.m. Central. A complete webcast of the meet will be available at usaswimming.org.
All-session tickets are on sale now online, and single-session tickets will be on sale each competition day at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center.
Other U.S. Olympic medalists expected to swim in Minneapolis include the likes of Elizabeth Beisel (Saunderstown, R.I.),Tyler Clary (Riverside, Calif.), Allison Schmitt (Canton, Mich.) and Nick Thoman (Cincinnati, Ohio).
Additional athletes slated to compete include fellow Olympic medalists Conor Dwyer (Winnetka, Ill.) and Caitlin Leverenz(Tucson, Ariz.), who have finished as the top Americans in the series rankings in each of the last two seasons.
On the local front, David Plummer (Oklahoma City, Okla.), who trains in the Minneapolis area and swam collegiately at Minnesota, is also expected to compete, as are nearly 40 swimmers from the host Golden Gophers. In total, more than 600 top U.S. and international swimmers, as well as area age-group standouts, are slated to swim.
The Arena Pro Swim Series at Minneapolis is the first of seven stops 2015-16 Arena Pro Swim Series. As part of USA Swimming’s partnership with swimwear leader Arena, the circuit will feature a record $350,000 in overall prize money. 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 third consecutive season, longtime USA Swimming partner BMW will award the grand prize of a one-year lease of a BMW vehicle 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 2015-16 series based on the number of points accumulated throughout the seven 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).
Swimming news courtesy of USA Swimming.
“For the third consecutive season, longtime USA Swimming partner BMW will award the grand prize of a one-year lease of a BMW vehicle to the highest-scoring eligible male and female U.S. swimmers.”
Michael Phelps is great, but I’m not sure I would trust him with a BMW 😉
This time of the year and the ‘first’ meet of the year, everyone is in a different stage of preparation. Putting in the foundation this fall will the highest priority for most of the contenders. Some of the National Team will be coming down from altitude so those select should get a ‘boost’.
Let the Games begin!
So many big names! 😎
NICE! Signed up to work at the meet as a volunteer/official a couple of weeks ago, but didn’t know I’d have the opportunity to see these top swimmers up close.
This has the makings of a good in-season meet. Also, neither Allison Schmitt nor Tyler Clary are mentioned as Olympic Champions, yet they are just that. Why not? They are more than “just” Olympic medalists.
i think they mentioned them seperately because its not sure whether they will be swimming or not.
Finally a serious meet in the Usa – yahoooooo
Lets see who has what to show ….