Melissa Franklin on the top: 2010-2011 USA Grand Prix Series
15-year-old Melissa Franklin has been enormously outstanding at the 2010-2011 USA Grand Prix Series. The series has been a successful event with the participation of world’s best swimmers, where Franklin overwhelmed the best of sports, including the likes
of Oussama Mellouli, Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Katie Hoff and Tyler Clary.
USA Grand Prix is conducted every year to identify the standings of their national swimmers. The Grand Prix will conclude after the completion of its' seven stops including, Minneapolis Grand Prix, Austin Grand Prix, Missouri Grand Prix, Indianapolis Grand
Prix, Eric Namesnik Michigan Grand Prix, Charlotte UltraSwim Grand Prix and the Santa Clara International Grand Prix.
The first stop of the Grand Prix was in Minneapolis during November 2010, where Franklin occupied the podium for gold medal in her events of 50m freestyle, 100m back-stroke, 200m back-stroke, 200m Individual Medley (IM) and 400m IM. She climbed on the top
of points' table on the first round while Phelps failed to score any podium finish. Lochte conquered a silver medal in the 100m butterfly along with two bronze medals of 100m breast-stroke and the 50m freestyle.
They continued the same at the next stop of Grand Prix in Austin, where Lochte defeated Phelps in three of his main events, 200m butterfly, 200m IM and the 400m IM. Phelps finished for silver medal in each event behind Lochte. On the contrary, Franklin continued
her legacy in the events and sustained her fastest spot by conquering gold medals in all events. Mellouli, who defeated the undisputed Grant Hackett in 2008 Beijing Olympics, pocketed gold medals for the distant freestyle swims in an easy manner. Franklin
was on the top position after the second spot, Mellouli was second, Lochte was third and Phelps remained fourth on the points table.
At the third stop of Grand Prix in Missouri, Lochte’s ranking became stronger with the absence of Phelps in the championship. Lochte easily pocketed more gold medals, while Franklin and Mellouli displayed tremendous swimming skills. Franklin secured her
podium finish in the events of freestyle, back-stroke and the IM. Their rankings remained the same after the third stop, while Phelps dropped down to the fifth spot and was crossed by Katie Hoff.
The fourth stop of Grand Prix at Indianapolis was considered most crucial, as the 2008 Beijing Olympics champion, Phelps envisaged that he will try to give a tough time to his competitor Lochte. Phelps then proved his word of mouth when he conquered five
gold medals in the events of 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 200m IM, 400m IM and the 100m butterfly where Lochte earned the gold medal in back-stroke and finished second behind Phelps in IM events.
Franklin once again remained undisputed in her freestyle and IM events to sustain her top spot. Franklin now rules the table with her 14 gold medals, two silver medals and one bronze medal. Mellouli with his 12 gold medals and two silver medals, stands second
on the Grand Prix ranking while Phelps overstepped Lochte for the third spot, occupying 10 gold medals, two silver medals and one bronze medal. Lochte is now fourth with seven gold medals, seven silver medals and one bronze medal.
The Grand Prix will conclude after its last stop at Santa Clara in June 2011, where the outstanding swimmers will go to Shanghai for the 2011 World Championships in July. Phelps claims to defend his titles at the World Championships, as the event precedes
2012 London Olympics.
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