2009 Duel in the Pool


The 2009 Duel in the Pool was a swimming competition between a team from the United States and a combined British, German and Italian "E-Stars" team held on Friday 18 and Saturday 19 December 2009 at the Manchester Aquatics Centre, United Kingdom. The naming rights are held by Mutual of Omaha and British Gas in the United States and Europe respectively - the event was therefore promoted as the 2009 Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool and 2009 British Gas Duel in the Pool.
The duel was won by the United States with a final score of 185-78, with eight short course world records broken - all by the USA team.

Background

In March 2009 it was announced that British Swimming were looking at proposals to host a Duel in the Pool style meet between the US and a combined European team in Manchester, dubbed the Ryder Cup of swimming. On 21 October 2009, it was announced that a Duel in the Pool will take place between a "European select team" and the US in Manchester on 18 and 19 December 2009. This event will include the first competitive performance by Michael Phelps in Britain.

Teams

E-Stars

The E-Stars team was announced on 25 November following a delay in confirming availability of some of the originally selected swimmers. It was originally intended that the European team would include 12 swimmers from each of the three participating nations, however the team list included fourteen each from Great Britain and Italy, with just eight from Germany.
Middle-distance freestyle swimmers Joanne Jackson and Federica Pellegrini were originally included on the team list, however their withdrawals were announced on 4 December - Jackson due to recovering from a lung infection, and Pellegrini due to a clash with an awards dinner in Italy. Jackson's position in the team was filled by Jazmin Carlin. German Steffen Deibler was present on the original team list, however he withdrew from the event due to illness on 14 December and was replaced by Marco Orsi of Italy. Alessia Filippi also withdrew due to illness on this date. Keri-Anne Payne was drafted into the team as a replacement for Filippi just a few days prior to the start of the competition. The final team list consisted of 13 Italian, 7 German and 15 British members.
;Men
;Women
announced their team list on 28 October. Ryan Lochte pulled out of the team on 11 December due to injury.
;Men
;Women
The competition followed the format of previous Duel in the Pool events, and were held in a short course pool. Up to three swimmers from each team competed in each of the twenty-six individual events - thirteen each for men and women. Points were awarded to the top 3 finishers in each individual event - five points for the gold medal finisher, three for silver and one for bronze. Swimmers in fourth to sixth position were awarded no points. The winning team in each of the relay events were awarded seven points, with none for the losing team. In the event of a tie, a mixed 4×50 m medley relay would have been held with a single decisive point to the winner.
Gold medallists in each event received a prize of 1,000 US Dollars, with world record swims receiving a bonus of 15,000 US Dollars.
Events were swum in the following order, with women followed by men in each event.
;Day 1
;Day 2
Following Manchester's successful hosting of the 2008 FINA World Swimming Championships at the Manchester Evening News Arena, the Manchester Aquatics Centre was chosen to host the 2009 Duel in the Pool. The venue was also that used for the aquatic sports at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
The main pool was used for the 2009 Duel in the Pool - it was converted to the short course format with temporary seating for 3000 positioned atop of the moveable floor sections of the diving pool and Oxford Road end of the main pool.

Results

The results for each event are shown below. World, European and United States national records are indicated in the notes column as per the official results sheets, whilst British, Italian and German national records are individually referenced where the time was not also a world or European record.

4×100 m medley relay

;Women
RankNameTimePointsNotes
1
Margaret Hoelzer
Jessica Hardy
Dana Vollmer
Amanda Weir
3:47.977WR,
2E-Stars
Gemma Spofforth
Caroline Ruhnau
Ilaria Bianchi
Daniela Samulski
DSQ

;Men
RankTeamTimePointsNotes
1
Nick Thoman
Mark Gangloff
Michael Phelps
Nathan Adrian
3:20.717WR,
2E-Stars
Liam Tancock
Fabio Scozzoli
Michael Rock
Christian Galenda
3:24.67

400 m individual medley

;Women
RankNameTimePointsNotes
1 Julia Smit4:21.045WR,
2 Dagny Knutson4:24.313
3 Hannah Miley4:24.511ER, BR
4 Katie Hoff4:28.32
5 Francesca Segat4:29.55
5 Keri-Anne Payne4:29.55

;Men
RankNameTimePointsNotes
1 Tyler Clary4:02.025
2 Jack Brown4:03.573
3 Alex Vanderkaay4:05.221
4 Thomas Haffield4:05.78
5 Luca Marin4:07.31

100 m freestyle

;Women
RankNameTimePointsNotes
1 Francesca Halsall51.545
2 Dana Vollmer52.163
3 Daniela Schreiber52.731
4 Missy Franklin53.02
5 Amanda Weir54.00
6 Caitlin McClatchey55.60

;Men
RankNameTimePointsNotes
1 Nathan Adrian45.425
2 Marco Orsi46.593
3 Michael Phelps46.991
4 Christian Galenda47.21
5 Filippo Magnini47.40
6 Garrett Weber-Gale47.69

200 m backstroke

;Women
RankNameTimePointsNotes
1 Elizabeth Simmonds2:00.915ER, BR
2 Margaret Hoelzer2:02.723
3 Elizabeth Pelton2:02.781
4 Elizabeth Beisel2:04.69
5 Gemma Spofforth2:04.95

;Men
RankNameTimePointsNotes
1 Matt Grevers1:48.745
2 Nick Thoman1:50.053
3 Aaron Peirsol1:51.081
4 Christopher Walker-Hebborn1:52.51
5 James Goddard1:53.43

200 m breaststroke

;Women
RankNameTimePointsNotes
1 Rebecca Soni2:14.575WR,
2 Katy Freeman2:17.503
3 Ariana Kukors2:23.031
4 Carol Ruhnau2:23.05
5 Ilaria Scarcella2:24.50
6 Chiara Boggiatto2:25.11

;Men
RankNameTimePointsNotes
1 Mike Alexandrov2:03.725
2 Edoardo Giorgetti2:03.803IR
3 Sean Mahoney2:04.281
4 Marco Koch2:06.94
5 Mark Gangloff2:11.48
6 Fabio Scozzoli2:11.75

100 m butterfly

;Women
RankNameTimePointsNotes
1 Francesca Halsall55.715BR
2 Christine Magnuson55.813
3 Dana Vollmer56.001
4 Mary Mohler57.24
5 Annika Mehlhorn58.51
6 Ilaria Bianchi59.03

;Men
RankNameTimePointsNotes
1 Michael Phelps50.465
2 Benjamin Starke50.513
3 Michael Rock50.611
4 Tyler McGill50.62
5 Joseph Davide Natullo50.99IR
6 Aaron Peirsol52.34

400 m freestyle

;Women
RankNameTimePointsNotes
1 Allison Schmitt3:55.895
2 Rebecca Adlington3:59.043
3 Dagny Knutson4:01.211
4 Jazmin Carlin4:02.56
5 Katie Hoff4:04.61

;Men
RankNameTimePointsNotes
1 Peter Vanderkaay3:35.545
2 Federico Colbertaldo3:38.543
3 Michael Klueh3:39.941
4 Chad LaTourette3:40.66
5 Robert Renwick3:40.88
6 David Davies3:47.64

After day 1 of the Duel, USA were leading the E-Stars 89-33.

800 m freestyle

;Women
RankNameTimePointsNotes
1 Rebecca Adlington8:10.595
2 Keri-Anne Payne8:17.613
3 Amber McDermott8:21.821
4 Jazmin Carlin8:21.90

;Men
RankNameTimePointsNotes
1 Federico Colbertaldo7:31.185ER, IR
2 Chad LaTourette7:33.943
3 David Davies7:36.471BR
3 Michael Klueh7:36.47

200 m freestyle

;Women
RankNameTimePointsNotes
1 Allison Schmitt1:51.675
2 Dagny Knutson1:53.593
3 Francesca Halsall1:53.791BR
4 Dana Vollmer1:53.91
5 Caitlin McClatchey1:56.91

;Men
RankNameTimePointsNotes
1 Peter Vanderkaay1:42.175
2 Benjamin Starke1:42.863
3 Michael Phelps1:43.081
4 Filippo Magnini1:43.97
5 Robert Renwick1:44.02

100 m backstroke

;Women
RankNameTimePointsNotes
1 Elizabeth Simmonds56.695BR
2 Margaret Hoelzer57.353
3 Gemma Spofforth57.621
4 Elizabeth Pelton58.41
5 Hayley McGregory58.54

;Men
RankNameTimePointsNotes
1 Matt Grevers49.325
2 Aaron Peirsol51.253
3 Liam Tancock51.401
4 Christopher Walker-Hebborn51.61
5 Nick ThomanDSQ

100 m breaststroke

;Women
RankNameTimePointsNotes
1 Rebecca Soni1:02.705WR,
2 Jessica Hardy1:04.713
3 Katy Freeman1:05.131
4 Caroline Ruhnau1:06.09
5 Chiara Boggiatto1:06.56
6 Ilaria Scarcella1:07.13

;Men
RankNameTimePointsNotes
1 Mike Alexandrov57:165
2 Fabio Scozzoli57:473
3 Kevin Swander57:641
4 Hendrik Feldwehr57:68
5 Mark Gangloff58:18
6 Marco Koch58:82

200 m butterfly

;Women
RankNameTimePointsNotes
1 Mary Mohler2:04.785
2 Dana Vollmer2:05.343
3 Francesca Segat2:05.531
4 Annika Mehlhorn2:07.06
5 Elizabeth Beisel2:07.39
6 Caterina Giacchetti2:07.59

;Men
RankNameTimePointsNotes
1 Michael Rock1:51.465
2 Michael Phelps1:52.863
3 Tyler McGill1:53.171
4 Tyler Clary1:53.86
5 Joseph Davide Natullo1:57.25

50 m freestyle

;Women
RankNameTimePointsNotes
1 Francesca Halsall23.445BR
2 Jessica Hardy24.043
3 Christine Magnuson24.051
4 Amanda Weir24.30
5 Daniela Schreiber24.68

;Men
RankNameTimePointsNotes
1 Nathan Adrian20.715
2 Matt Grevers20.933
3 Marco Orsi21.121
4 Garrett Weber-Gale21.71

200 m individual medley

;Women
RankNameTimePointsNotes
1 Julia Smit2:04.605WR,
2 Ariana Kukors2:07.873
3 Katie Hoff2:08.371
4 Hannah Miley2:08.69
5 Francesca Segat2:10.14

;Men
RankNameTimePointsNotes
1 James Goddard1:52.625BR
2 Jack Brown1:54.433
3 Tyler Clary1:54.821
4 Alex Vanderkaay1:55.18
5 Fabio Scozzoli1:57.91

4×100 m freestyle relay

;Women
RankNameTimePointsNotes
1
Missy Franklin
Christine Magnuson
Amanda Weir
Dana Vollmer
3:28.897
2E-Stars
Francesca Halsall
Daniela Schreiber
Daniela Samulski
Elizabeth Simmonds
3:29.90

;Men
RankTeamTimePointsNotes
1
Nathan Adrian
Matt Grevers
Garrett Weber-Gale
Michael Phelps
3:03.307WR,
2E-Stars
Christian Galenda
Marco Orsi
Benjamin Starke
Filippo Magnini
3:04.95

Final points tally

Legend: WR - World record; ER - World record; AM - United States record; BR - British record; GR - German record; IR - Italian record; DSQ - Disqualified

Broadcast

In the United Kingdom the event was broadcast live on the BBC's channels and via its website. Friday's session was on BBC Three, and Saturday's on BBC One.
NBC broadcast highlights of the event on 27 December in the United States.