Natalie Coughlin has been nominated for the top Female Athlete of the Year award at next month's ESPY Awards.

She is up against other standout female athletes such as Candace Parker, Nastia Liukin, Serena Williams, and Maya Moore.

She is also nominated for "Best US Female Olympian".

Votes will be collected online, beginning later today, on the show website.

The 17th annual ESPY Awards, hosted by actor Samuel L. Jackson, take place Sunday, July 19 and air live on ESPN at 9 PM (ET).

Ryan Lochte was already confirmed to attend the Flowers Sea Swim, a half-mile race, in the Cayman Islands later tomorrow. At the time of that posting, another swim star, Ian Crocker may not have bee on the initial "scheduled to appear" list. He is now.

Ian has taken a break from competitive swimming following the 2008 Beijing Games and the Flowers Sea Swim marks one of his first returns back into swimming realm, even though it is an open water event. One of his longtime Longhorn training partners, Neil Walker, is also making the trip.

Visit the event website for more information.

Peter Vanderkaay will test himself one more time, before the World Championships Trials, in the city where he made his first World Championships appearance; Montreal.

Beginning today and running through Sunday at the Olympic Pool, the Quebec Cup Grand Prix will also feature Michael Phelps, who will continue to measure his training after competing just last weekend in Santa Clara.

Meet results can be found here, compliments of Swimming Canada.

If you haven't figured it out, all the SwimStars.org coverage of the SwimNetwork.com Santa Clara International grand prix can be found on Swim Stars Live and the SwimStars.org Twitter account.

There are pictures, live tweets and news posts, as well as occasional video. Check it out!

The Santa Clara International gets underway this Thursday at the George Haines International Swim Center. SwimStars.org will be on location to cover this meet which features Swim Stars Katie Hoff, Matt Grevers, and Ryan Lochte. The psych sheet is out and can be viewed online here, courtesy of USA Swimming.

Timed finals kick off Thursday at 4PM with a couple of distance races. The remaining days of competition feature 9AM prelims and 5PM finals sessions. As was the case with the UltraSwim Grand Prix, the meet will be broadcast on Universal Sports with an accompanying stream at swimnetwork.com, who is sponsoring the Grand Prix.

Ryan Lochte will head to the Cayman Islands next month to participate in the Flowers Sea Swim, a half–mile swim is from the Gecko Beach Bar to the Ritz–Carlton north beach on June 20.

Shaune Fraser, one of Ryan's Gator teammates -- who represents the Cayman Islands in international competition -- will also race at the event, which offers a variety of prizes, including $25,000 for a world record as well as various trips to worldwide destinations.

For more information, visit www.flowersseaswim.com.

The women's 1500 Free and men's 800 Free got the final session of the 2009 UltraSwim underway this evening. Club Wolverine's Emily Brunemann was the top finisher with a 16:27 that easily beat the women's field, while Joe Kinderwater's 8:08.16 topped the men's championship final.

The 200 IM was up next, and Dagny Knutson continued her great weekend with a 2:12.87 effort that also established a new meet record. Felicia Lee also contested the 200 IM and took 4th in 2:15.82, which gave her another personal best for the meet. She finished behind Julia Smit (2:14.80) and Elizabeth Beisel (2:15.45).

Thiago Pereira got that elusive gold in the men's 200 IM, besting the meet record with a 1:58.25 finish. Ryan Lochte took 2nd in 1:58.71 and Eric Shantea 3rd in 2:01.33.

Elizabeth Beisel took the women's 200 Back title in 2:11.88 while Aaron Peirsol emerged the victor in the men's final. His 1:56.65 swim erased yet another meet record from the books.

The final event of the meet was the 100 Free. Amanda Weir made a sweep of the women's sprint freestyle events with her own meet record setting swim of 54.06. Katie Hoff made her final appearance of the competition in the 'A' final, finishing 8th in 56.55.

The men's 100 Free final was the marquee race for the evening. France's Fred Bousquet, who had already won the 50 Free, looked to complete a sweep of his own and was successful, hitting the wall in 48.22; the 5th meet record of the night! Michael Phelps touched second in 49.04 with Ricky Berens' locking up 3rd in 49.66. Davis Tarwater placed 6th in the same final with a 50.51 swim. Meanwhile, Peter Vanderkaay swam in the 'B' final, finishing 2nd in 49.71.

If you missed any of the finals action, be sure to check SwimNetwork.com for some on-demand video. And the full meet results are available online on the Charlotte UltraSwim event website.

Mary DeScenza got the 3rd day of the Charlotte UltraSwim started with a win in her signature event, the 200 Fly. She stopped the clock at 2:09.25, more than a second before Adrienne Bicek (2:10.99). Felicia Lee secured 3rd place with a 2:11.14 swim that was just .03 off her best time.

The men's final featured an exciting finish with Club Wolverine's Dan Madwed out-touching Davis Tarwater, who now swims for Tennessee Aquatics, 1:58.72 to 1:58.74. Brazil's Thiago Pereira rounded out the top 3 in 1:59.75.

Amanda Weir was the top finisher in the 50 Free, posting a solid 25.32. France's Fred Bousquet blasted through the men's final and shattered the US Open Record with a 21.33 performance. Cullen Jones (21.92) and George Bovell (22.01) finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively, clocking times fasters than previous meet record set last year by Jones.

Olympian Elizabeth Beisel notched her first victory of the weekend after a 1:01.62 in the 100 Back. Mary DeScenza and Liz Pelton completed the Top 3 with times of 1:02.12 and 1:02.21 respectively.

The men's 100 back Championship Final was likely one of the most anticipated races of the 2009 edition of UltraSwim. Michael Phelps, Aaron Peirsol, and Ryan Lochte all advanced, setting up an exciting race. In the end Aaron took the gold with 53.32 meet record setting swim. Phelps took home second in 53.79, while Nick Thoman scored the bronze in 54.76. Ryan finished just off the podium after a 55.13 race.

The 200 Breast titles went to Laura Sogar (2:30.93) and Eric Shanteau (2:09.71), who easily topped last year's meet record.

The final individal event of the session was the 400 Free Katie Hoff made her only final of the day a great show for the crowd as she and Dagny Knutson went head-to-head. Dagny made it to the wall first in 4:09.60, with Katie hitting second just .12 later. There wasn't much of a race to the finish in the men's 'A' final. Peter Vanderkaay cruised to first, clocking a 3:46.04 that destroyed the previous meet record. Four of his Club Wolverine teammates followed him into the wall as the club swept the Top 5 spots. Ryan Lochte swam in the 'B' final and picked up 3rd place with his 4:01.53 swim.

Again, live results are available online, as is on-demand video at SwimNetwork.com. You can continue to watch the meet live, courtesy of Universal Sports. Tomorrow is the final day of the meet and will showcase races in the 200 IM, 200 Back, 100 Free, women's 1500 Free, and men's 800 Free.

The second day of the 2009 Charlotte UltraSwim began with the 200 Free. Before a sold out crowd, Dagny Knutson bested the field, posting a 1:58.63 to finish 1st. The Grand Prix leaderboard frontrunner, Mary DeScenza took second in 2:00.49, followed by Katie Hoff's 2:00.63. In the 'B' final, Felicia Lee finished 6th (14th overall) in 2:03.76.

The men's championship final featured a loaded field headlined by Olympians Michael Phelps, Aaron Peirsol, and Peter Vanderkaay. Phelps stopped the clock at 1:46.02 to take first. Peter claimed second with a 1:46.71 swim, while Davis Tarwater rounded out the top 4 in 1:47.35. All three of the top finishers touched under the previous meet record set by Phelps in 2006. Swimming an "off event", Aaron just missed the podium with a 1:49.84 4th place finish. Ryan Lochte competed in the 'B' final, hitting the wall first in 1:50.58; a time that would have earned him 5th place in the 'A' final.

In the 100 Fly, Olympian Christine Magnuson's 58.35 held off Mary DeScenza (58.53) to win the 100 Fly. Felicia Lee turned in a 59.51 swim for 3rd place. The time also served as a career best for Felicia.

Phelps returned for the men's 100 Fly and claimed another win with a meet record performance of 51.72. Tyler McGill (52.76) and Corney Swanepoel (53.22) went 2-3. Davis Tarwater placed 4th in 53.32, while Aaron Peirsol grabbed 6th with a 53.55 swim.

Amanda Reason (1:08.80) and Mark Gangloff (1:00.18) were victorious in the 100 Breast. Dagny Knutson won her second event of the day by setting a new meet record in the 400 IM (4:41.47), while Brazil's Thiago Pereira (4:16.19) equaled her accomplishment with a meet record of his own in the men's final.

Live results can be found online at www.charlotteultraswim.com. You can also watch live, online or on TV, courtesy of Universal Sports.