POSTED: Friday June 12th 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MICHAEL PHELPS HEADLINES AS UNIVERSAL SPORTS PRESENTS LAST STOP OF USA SWIMMING GRAND PRIX

Live Coverage of Finals Begins this Friday at 8 p.m. ET

       Series Concludes With the Swimnetwork.com Santa Clara International Grand Prix Featuring Phelps, Ryan Lochte, and More


       LOS ANGELES – June 11, 2009 – Fourteen time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps joins Olympians Ryan Lochte, Katie Hoff and Aaron Peirsol as Universal Sports, in cooperation with USA Swimming and SwimNetwork.com, presents live television and online coverage of the final stop of the USA Swimming Grand Prix Series, the Swimnetwork.com Santa Clara International Grand Prix.  Live television and online coverage of the Santa Clara International Grand Prix finals begins this Friday at 8 p.m. ET.

Three-time Olympic gold medalist and NBC Sports Olympic swimming analyst Rowdy Gaines and NBC Sports’ Emmy Award-winning broadcaster Ted Robinson will provide commentary for the event, with Olympic gold medalist Summer Sanders reporting live from Santa Clara.

COVERAGE ON UNIVERSAL SPORTS:  Universal Sports, available in 45 million homes, presents live coverage of the Santa Clara International Grand Prix Finals. In addition, UniversalSports.com will live stream each event.  More information, as well as highlights, full-length videos, photos, breaking news and more available at Universal Sports’ swimming channel at UniversalSports.com/swimming.

Date                    Event                                                             Time (all times ET)
June 12         SANTA CLARA DAY 1 (LIVE)                8 – 10 p.m.
June 13         SANTA CLARA DAY 2 (LIVE)                8 – 10 p.m.
June 14         SANTA CLARA DAY 3 (LIVE)                        8 – 10 p.m.

ABOUT THE EVENT: The Santa Clara International Grand Prix is the final stop on the USA Swimming Grand Prix Series and the last major competition before the 2009 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships next month. The swimmer with the most points at the end of the series will be the winner of the $20,000 grand prize.  Michael Phelps was the winner of the 2007-2008 Grand Prix Series and received the first-ever $20,000 grand prize offered for the event.

Phelps made his return to the pool this year at the Charlotte UltraSwim event, where he won the gold medal in the 200-meter freestyle and 100-meter backstroke events.  Going into the final competition, swimmer Mary Descenza is in first place with 19 gold medals, Ryan Lochte is in second with 10, and Chloe Sutton is in third place with nine gold medals.

ABOUT UNIVERSAL SPORTS: Universal Sports, a partnership between NBC Sports and InterMedia Partners, serves as the preeminent multiplatform destination for Olympic-related and lifestyle sports programming available on television and online. Universal Sports is now available in nine of the top 10 DMAs including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Dallas-Fort Worth and Washington, D.C. Recent expansion includes launches in Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Denver, Portland, and Jacksonville. Go to UniversalSports.com for a complete list of TV markets. Major world championship and Olympic qualifying events found on Universal Sports range from track and field, skiing, swimming, gymnastics, marathons and cycling, to volleyball, rowing, triathlon, fencing, speed skating and martial arts. UniversalSports.com delivers an immersive experience via live and on-demand competition coverage, interaction with top athletes through blogs and in-depth access to Olympic sports news and information year round. For more information on the availability of the Universal Sports 24-hour television channel, please visit UniversalSports.com

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Media Contact:
Melisa Mowry
240.396.1906
Melisa.Mowry@UniversalSports.com

       Members of the media can get more information about NBC Universal and its programming on the NBC Universal Media Village Web site at www.nbcumv.com.

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Keywords · Swimnetwork.com · Santa Clara International Grand Prix · Michael Phelps · Ryan Lochte · NBC

Name: Adam Freifeld
Organization: NBC
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Phone: +1.212-664-6772

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