Missouri swimmer Jordan Hawley competes in the 50-meter freestyle preliminary on Saturday at the Missouri Grand Prix. Hawley did not qualify for a finals heat.
U.S. National Team member Eric Shanteau comes up for a breath in the 200-meter breaststroke. Shanteau won two gold medals Saturday, in the 200-meter breaststroke, and 200-meter individual medley.
Photographing swimming has a tendency to get a little repetitive and monotonous when you’re doing it for six hours a day. If you aren’t really aware of what you’re doing, every photo you take will pretty much look like a head bobbing in and out of water. With that in mind, I took my time today to try and get something different. Now, I’m sure both of these photos have been shot before, but they aren’t something you’ll get everyday.
Now that I’ve gotten clean stock photos of pretty much every major swimmer competing, I hope to spend my final day at the pool tomorrow looking more for features and even more unique compositions.
Missouri swimmer Rachel Ripley, right, waits on the pool deck behind Trojan Swim Club member Keri Hehn prior to the 100-meter breaststroke championship final of the Missouri Grand Prix. Ripley placed fourth, with a time of 1:11.5.
Back to sports…for a couple days. This weekend is the fourth-annual Missouri Grand Prix, and my third year shooting the competitive meet. For the second year in a row, Michael Phelps is absent from the pool at the MU Student Recreation Complex, this time due to a snowstorm which kept him in Baltimore. Despite some spectators turning around at the door upon finding out of Phelps’ situation, attendance this year (in my entirely unofficial estimation) seems generally higher so far than last, but nowhere near what it was in 2008 – being an Olympic year, almost the entire U.S. National Team was competing along with other international stars.
I didn’t get much of a chance to shoot today because of other obligations, but expect a full photo gallery sometime later this weekend!
Lisa Nathanson, Francie Szostak, Kim Jasmer and Cassie Cunningham react after winning the 200-yard freestyle relay.
Olympian Ryan Lochte makes his way to the starting blocks.
With Olympic Fever dying off and Michael Phelps lying low from his recent marijuana incident, the 2009 Missouri Grand Prix had only a fraction of the excitement and buzz as the previous year’s contest. Still, world-class swimmers crowded the Mizzou Aquatics Center and several meet and pool records were shattered during the four-day event.