The Arena World Cup comes to a conclusion in Berlin this weekend just as a much more private style of race circuit gets underway over in the States: the 2008 Minnesota Grand Prix at the University of Minnesota Aquatics Center is held in a yards pool, where times are somewhat lost in translation in the world beyond. It is, to coin a phrase oft heard among American tourists peering through the London gates of a modest cottage known as Buckingham Palace, "quaint", a throwback to a world gone by.
In the US, yards are still very much a part of the swim world and allow Americans to get on with the job of racing hard and often over winter without giving too much away. In Minnesota, Ryan Lochte and Mary Descenza emerged as the best of the bunch on the first day of action.
Lochte claimed the 200y medley in 1:45.59, more than 3sec up on the best of the rest, Ian Clark. Lochte returned to the fray in the 100y breaststroke, leading for three lengths until succumbing to fatigue and Matthew Lowe on the way home, the win of 54.15 comfortably ahead of Lochte's 55.04.
Descenza took on Allison Schmitt in the 200y free, emerging with a 1:46.69 victory over 1:47.31. Just one race later, Descenza was back in the water on her way to a 53.52 win in the 100y butterfly ahead of Lauren Harrington, on 54.86. Chloe Sutton was fourth inside the 2-min mark, a good effort for an Olympic 10km swimmer who in Minnesota won the 1000y free in 9:39.26.
Fellow open water veteran Kirsten Groome was second in 9:43.09 and then watched her brother Eegan win the men’s 1000y free in 9:15.98.
For other results, see USA Swimming.
