Lately, the USA's national swim team has been all about Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, but the greater Los Angeles area is sending six Olympians in search of their own glory.
Anthony Ervin from Valencia, Jessica Hardy from Long Beach, Tyler Clary from Redlands, Missy Franklin from Pasadena, Chloe Sutton from Mission Viejo and Jason Lezak from Irvine are all members of the national swim team.
This isn't Ervin's first time to the big stage before. The UC Berkeley grad won two gold medals at the 2000 Olympics, one in the 50 Free and the other as a member of the 400 medley relay. He also won a silver medal as a member of the 400 Free relay. Ervin will only be swimming the 50 Free.
Hardy is no stranger to success either, as she is the current world record holder in both the 50 and 100 meter breaststroke. She maintains an aggressive training schedule, swimming 6,000 meters per day, three hours a day, six days a week. Hardy will be competing in the 50 Free, the 100 Free and the 400 Free Relay.
Clary is a Comptuer Science major at the University of Michigan by day, and Olympic swimmer also by day. This will also be his first Olympics appearance as he partakes in the 200 fly and the 200 back. He isn't new to competitive swimming however as he has competed in U.S. Nationals since 2007.
One of the younger members of the U.S. swimming team is also competing in quite a few events. Franklin graduates from high school next year, but that hasn't stopped her from trying to win gold in 100 Free, 100 Back, 200 Back, 200 Free, 400 Free Relay and 800 Free Relay. She qualified for the national team by finishing first in the 100 Back and set a new American record in the process.
Sutton is normally a long distance swimmer who has held the national championship in both the 10k and the 5k. This isn't her first time in the pool as she participated in the 10k event at the 2008 Olympics. She will be swimming the 400 Free in London.
Lezak is one of the more experienced members of the team having been to the past three Olympics. He is the proud owner of four gold medals, including two world records as part of 2008's record setting 400 Free-relay and 400 Medley-relay teams, in which he anchored both. Lezak will be swimming in the 400 Free-relay again this year.
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