May 14, 2009
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The South Carolina swimming team will be well-represented at the prestigious Charlotte Ultraswim this weekend as seven members of the 2008-09 Gamecocks will be competing in the meet. The USA Swimming Grand Prix event gets underway Thursday evening, and Gamecock swimmers will compete in events Friday through Sunday at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center.
The Carolina men will have four representatives in Charlotte as senior Kyle Cormier, junior Trey Tharpe and freshmen James Crawford and Ham Hollett will compete in various events. All four will swim the 200-meter freestyle, all but Cormier will swim the 100 and 200 backstroke, Cormier and Crawford will swim the 200 IM, and Cormier will swim the 50 freestyle. Cormier holds the school record in the 100 free, 200 free and 200 IM (short-course yards).
For the Gamecock women, it will be junior Sharntelle McLean and freshmen Lydia Hackert and Lindsey Olson swimming in the meet. Hackert will enter both the 100 and 200 breaststroke and the 200 IM, McLean will swim the 50 and 100 freestyle, and Olson will swim a six-event program with the 200 and 400 free, 200 and 400 IM and the 100 and 200 fly.
The 25th Annual Charlotte Ultraswim will consist of some of the top swimmers in the world, including 15 U.S. Olympians and more than 25 U.S. National Team members. It is the fifth stop in the USA Swimming Grand Prix series, which gives athletes opportunities to race against top-level competition as they continue their preparation for the 2009 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships in Indianapolis and the 2009 FINA World Championships in Rome.
Preliminaries get underway at 9 a.m. each day with finals beginning at 6 p.m. The top 24 swimmers in each preliminary will advance to an A, B or C final. Universal Sports and Swimnetwork.com will air footage from the competition each day during the event.
EVENT SCHEDULE
Friday: 200 Free, 100 Breast, 100 Fly, 400 IM
Saturday: 200 Fly, 50 Free, 100 Back, 200 Breast, 400 Free
Sunday: 200 IM, 200 Back, 100 Free
