May 15, 2009

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – South Carolina senior Kyle Cormier improved on his preliminary time by nearly a full second, turning in a time of 1:51.17 in the 200-meter freestyle `B’ final at the Charlotte Ultraswim on Friday night. Cormier was slightly more than half a second behind race winner Ryan Lochte. Also, freshman James Crawford finished 24th in the `C’ final at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center.

Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps won the championship final with a time of 1:46.02, breaking his own meet record from 2006 by more than 2.5 seconds. Cormier’s time was faster than the eighth-place finisher in the `A’ final, NCAA Champion and Michigan sophomore Tyler Clary, who swam a 1:52.13.

Crawford touched the wall in 1:54.29, nearly three-tenths of a second faster than his morning swim.

The Gamecock contingent will return to the pool Saturday morning with preliminaries in the 200 fly, 50 free, 100 back, 200 breast and 400 free on tap. Full coverage is available through Swimnetwork.com, and live results can be followed through charlotteultraswim.com.