COUGHLIN, LOCHTE, PHELPS AND BERENS HIGHLIGHT THE FIELD AT THE CHARLOTTE ULTRASWIM GRAND PRIX

Olympic gold medalists Natalie Coughlin (Vallejo, Calif.), Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.), Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md.) and Ricky Berens (Charlotte, N.C.), along with nine other U.S. Olympic gold medalists will compete May 12-15 at the 2011 Charlotte UltraSwim Grand Prix. The meet is the sixth stop of the seven-meet USA Swimming Grand Prix Series and will take place at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center.

Additional Olympic gold medalists appearing in Charlotte include local resident Cullen Jones (New Brunswick, N.J), Amanda Beard (Irvine, Calif.), Rebecca Soni (Plainsboro, N.J.), Peter Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich.), Matt Grevers (Lake Forest, Ill.), Kara Lynn Joyce (Athens, Ga.), Dana Vollmer (Granbury, Texas), Mark Gangloff (Akron, Ohio) and Garrett Weber-Gale (Milwaukee, Wis.). The Charlotte Grand Prix will feature over 40 members of the U.S. National Team, such as Charlotte natives Berens, Matthew Patton and Scot Robison.

Jones and Josh Schneider (Cincinnati, Ohio), who will also compete at the Grand Prix meet, will compete in a 50m free swim-off Thursday, May 12 at 6:20 p.m. to determine the final spot on the U.S. roster for the 2011 FINA World Championships. The two SwimMAC Carolina teammates tied for second place in the 50m free at the 2010 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships. The winner of the head-to-head race will immediately be named to the 2011 U.S. World Championship Team.(swimmingworldmagazine)