2007 Toyota Missouri Grand Prix

More than half of the 2007 World Championship team and a total of 21 American Olympians are expected to compete at the Missouri Grand Prix, Feb. 16-19 at the Mizzou Aquatic Center in Columbia, Mo. The third stop in the Toyota Grand Prix Series, it is the last major competition before Team USA heads to Melbourne for the 2007 FINA World Championships, March 18-April 1 in Melbourne, Australia.

The World Championships is considered the top international swimming competition in the world outside of the Olympic Games, and this meet will be the best indicator of the stars to watch in 2008. Twenty-two members of the 2003 World Championship squad went on to make the 2004 Olympic Team.

Eight-time Olympic medalist Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md. / Club Wolverine) and five-time Olympic medalist Natalie Coughlin (Vallejo, Calif. / Cal Aquatics) headline the Grand Prix field. Phelps and Coughlin both kicked off the Toyota Grand Prix Series with impressive performances in Long Beach, Calif., in January. Phelps claimed four victories, and Coughlin captured gold medals in five events. The Texas trio of Aaron Peirsol (Irvine, Calif. / Longhorn), Brendan Hansen (Havertown, Pa. / Longhorn) and Ian Crocker (Portland, Maine / Longhorn), will also use this meet as a tune-up before the World Championships. Peirsol, Hansen and Crocker all hold individual world records in their specialty events, and all three were individual gold medalists at the 2005 World Championships in Montreal. Olympian Katie Hoff (Towson, Md. / North Baltimore), who captured three gold medals at the 2005 event, is also expected to compete.

The Missouri Grand Prix will also feature relay world-record holders Cullen Jones (New Brunswick, N.J. / NC State Aquatics) and Neil Walker (Verona, Wis. / Longhorn). In addition to Phelps, both Jones and Walker were members of the 4×100m freestyle relay that set the world record at the 2006 Mutual of Omaha Pan Pacific Championships in September.

WHO:Twenty-one American Olympians are expected to compete, including: Maritza Correia, Natalie Coughlin, Ian Crocker, Mark Gangloff, Brendan Hansen, Katie Hoff, Margaret Hoelzer, Rhi Jeffrey, Megan Jendrick, Kalyn Keller, Klete Keller, Ryan Lochte, Aaron Peirsol, Michael Phelps, Kaitlin Sandeno, Scott Usher, Peter Vanderkaay, Erik Vendt, Allison Wagner, Amanda Weir, Neil Walker.

At least 23 members of the 2007 World Championships team will be in Columbia. In addition to the majority of the Olympians above, other team members include: Elizabeth Beisel, Mary DeScenza, Cullen Jones, Ariana Kukors, Eric Shanteau, Davis Tarwater, Kim Vandenberg.