5 Storylines to Watch at the Missouri Grand Prix

Anyone else get incredibly excited watching pre-Olympic marketing hype during last night’s Super Bowl? With football season over, let the Olympic year commence.
Last night, NBC milked Beijing imagery of our sport’s Golden Boy charging to the wall, reaching and out-touching Cavic by .01 – and I loved every hundredth.

Each time I hear Dan Hicks legendary call of the Phelps vs. Cavic 100m butterfly, “HE GETS IT DONE AGAIN!” I get goosebumps. I love listening to it. I love watching it. Go to NBCOlympics.com right now and watch it. Wake up to it. Set it as your ring tone. “FOR THE SECOND STRAIGHT OLYMPICS PHELPS GETS IT DONE!”

Then Rowdy: “ONE ONE-HUNDREDTH OF A SECOND!!!”

Chills, I tell you.

With the Olympics looming, let’s turn our attention to an important step towards London, this weekend’s Missouri Grand Prix. While there isn’t a lot of firepower at this Grand Prix, that doesn’t mean the races won’t be as thrilling. Perhaps the biggest storyline at this meet will be the opportunity for those swimmers who are aiming for 2nd place finishes at the Olympic Trials – not the Phelpses or Lochtes, but the Grevers, Chandlers, Donohues, Weirs and McGills – to score some quality, confidence-building wins.

As always, we have the 5 Storylines To Watch:

5. International Fields.
There’s a large number of international swimmers racing this weekend, and this is most obvious in the men’s 50m freestyle. USA’s own “Man, Myth and Legend,” swimmer Jason Lezak, will attempt to defend home turf against international superstars Cesar Cielo, Frederick Bousquet and Gideon Louw. Lezak has been a crowd favorite since his magical Beijing moment anchoring the 400 freestyle relay and miraculously out-touching the French. This weekend’s 50m freestyle offers the 36-year-old Californian the opportunity to see how he stacks up against some of the fastest swimmers from around the world.

4. Another Kitajima vs. Shanteau Battle.
Four years ago, Eric Shanteau scored one of the bigger upsets of the Olympic Trials, knocking off training teammate Brendan Hansen en route to qualifying for the Beijing Olympics. Shanteau later revealed he was diagnosed with cancer just days before the Trials, which led to a media firestorm throughout his Olympic experience. Now, Shanteau is cancer-free and aiming for his second Olympic birth, this time with no surprises. Flash back four years ago to the Missouri Grand Prix: Shanteau swam a 2:10.86. He still holds that meet record. This weekend, he’ll be aiming for something comparable, and he’ll have a rival, Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima, to push him. Though Kitajima hasn’t been stellar, you never know what the defending Olympic champion will do. Should be a good one. Get on your feet and cheer. Breaststrokers can hear you.

3. Chloe Sutton: An Olympic Trial X-Factor
Chloe Sutton is entered in six events this weekend, perhaps using this meet as a training utility (as are most swimmers). In 2010, Sutton was a breakout swimmer when she successfully transitioned from open water swimming to “pool swimming” and won the overall Grand Prix points title. Since, Sutton turned professional. Though she wasn’t as dominating last season as she was two years ago, Sutton has her eyes on a second straight Olympic birth. It’ll be interesting to see how she performs against weaker competition in the longer distance freestyle events. She’s seeded well ahead of competitors. She will likely be racing in clean, waveless water. This meet could give Sutton nice wins to supply the confidence she needs heading into the next few months of training and racing. Watch out for her. She could take the country by storm this year, just like she did two years ago.

2. Teenage Superstars Face-Off.
There will never be “another Michael Phelps,” but that doesn’t mean we can’t look. Two teenage superstars will swim against each other in the 200m backstroke: 18-year-old Jacob Pebley and 16-year-old Ryan Murphy. Both are seeded in numerous events (7 and 9, respectively) and both have a legitimate shot to make some serious noise in the future. I wouldn’t go so far as to compare them to a Phelps or a Lochte, but it will be interesting to watch how these two teenagers grow, develop, and race in the coming months. Their rise reminds me of other superstars’ pre-Olympic Trials progressions (Tom Malchow, Michael Phelps, Elizabeth Beisel), and we’ll know much more from these two beginning with this weekend. While swim fans may be disappointed there won’t be a “Phelps vs. Lochte” in Missouri, but we could see younger, futuristic versions of Phelps and Lochte competing this weekend. Said it before and I’ll say it again: Remember those names.

1. 100 Butterfly & The Olympic Trials.
The 100 butterfly is shaping up to be one of the more interesting events this coming Olympic Trials, specifically the men’s second spot. Tyler McGill has long played second fiddle to Phelps internationally, but don’t count out Tucson Ford’s Matt Grevers to challenge McGill. You ask to yourself, “Grevers? Isn’t he a backstroker?” The 100 fly actually makes sense for Grevers going into the Olympic Trials. In the Trials’ event schedule, the 100 fly is AFTER the 100 back (Grevers’ forte) and doesn’t overlap with the 100 freestyle. It’s at the end of the meet, which means there’s nothing to lose. I’m curious to watch Grevers’ 100 butterfly this weekend, because a strong showing could indicate we’ll see a solid race between these two for the 2nd Olympic spot in Omaha.

Another X-Factor should Grevers concentrate on the butterfly: Relays. If Grevers qualifies in both the 100 back AND the 100 fly, we could have an interesting decision in terms of Olympic relay selections. Though this is far in the future, you can’t help but see Grever’s 52.1 seed time and think, “Wow, he has a legit shot to qualify in the 100 fly.” Then you realize he has a legit shot to qualify in three 100 distances – butterfly, backstroke and freestyle. (If only his breaststroke was better, Grevers’ could be one of the great 200 IMers of our time.) While the women’s race will be interesting as well – I’m curious how Claire Donohue will perform – I’m most looking forward to this men’s 100 butterfly match-up between two Illinois natives, McGill and Grevers.

By Mike Gustafson//Correspondent