08/20/2001

Olympic Gold Medalists Among Swimmers to Compete For Team USA at 2001 Goodwill Games

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Gary Hall Jr. and Olympic gold and silver medalist Stacianna Stitts are among the swimmers scheduled to compete for Team USA at the 2001 Goodwill Games, officials announced today. The six-day competition will be held at Chandler Aquatic Center in downtown Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, from Aug. 29-Sept. 3 and will be aired on Turner Network Television (TNT).

Olympic gold medalist and Goodwill Games alumni Tom Malchow, Olympic gold and silver medalist Jason Lezak, Olympic Bronze medalist Tom Wilkins, Olympic silver medalist Chad Charvin and Olympic silver medalist Scott Tucker are slated to compete for Team USA's men's team. Competitors for the women's team also include Olympic gold medalist Lindsay Benko, World Champion Haley Cope and two-time Olympian Gabrielle Rose.

"We are excited to have both up-and-coming and established swimmers competing on behalf of Team USA," said Michael Plant, president of Goodwill Games, Inc. "The Chandler Aquatic Center will be the perfect place for showcasing the athleticism of the world's best swimmers."

In addition to Team USA, swimmers will represent Australian, European and World all-star teams. Swimmers will compete for a prize purse totaling $508,000 (USD).

The competition format consists of four men's and four women's national teams, with 23 athletes per team. Each men's and women's team competes in a round-robin, dual-meet format for a total of three dual meets per team. First and second-place teams advance to the gold medal finals, while the third and fourth-place teams advance to the bronze medal final. Each team is allowed two entries in individual events and one entry in relay events.

The competition will consist of 38 events: 50 freestyle, 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 50m backstroke, 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke, 50m breaststroke, 100m breaststroke, 200m breaststroke, 50m butterfly, 100m butterfly, 200m butterfly, 200m individual medley, 400m individual medley, 4 x 100 freestyle relay, 4 x 100 medley relay, the team competition and the 1500m freestyle in the men's competition and the 800m freestyle in the women's competition.

The Goodwill Games, Aug. 29 - Sept. 9, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, will feature 14 sports: athletics, basketball, beach volleyball, boxing, cycling (track), diving, figure skating, gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, swimming, trampoline, triathlon, weightlifting and surf lifesaving. Goodwill Games, Inc. is a division of Turner Sports, the sports programming and production business unit of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.