The second to last stop on the Grand Prix tour kicked off tonight with the time finals of both the non-Olympic events of the women’s 1500 free and men’s 800 free. In what will surely be a great competition over the course of the weekend some 2012 Olympic hopefuls took the first two events of the meet as Chloe Sutton and Chad La Tourette collected victories.

Sutton, a 2008 Olympian in the open water, continues to look like a strong contender and the leader for the women’s distance events heading into trials as she took the win in 16:23.96. That time now ranks her seventh in the world standings behind New Zealand’s Lauren Boyle. Sutton is also slated to compete in a variety of other events this weekend including the 200, 400 and 800 freestyles. Finishing second was training partner Ashley Twichell in 16:25.25 to move up to eighth.

On the men’s side it was another Mission Viejo standout who took the win as Stanford senior Chad La Tourette took the 800 free in 7:58.91. That time improves upon his 14th ranked time this year. Michigan’s Connor Jaeger took second in 8:00.81 to rank 21st this year.

Tomorrow will kick off the second day of competition with a slew of National Team members in action. In the first event of the day the head to head matchup everyone is gearing up for this summer is on tap as Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte will meet in the 200 free. Rebecca Soni and Jessica Hardy also expect to battle tomorrow in the 100 breaststroke and Dana Vollmer will take on training mate Natalie Coughlin the 100 fly. Spring events in the 50 back and 50 breast are also on the schedule.

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