This Friday kicks off the second of seven stops on the USA Swimming Grand Prix circuit from Austin, Texas. Let's get the weekend started off right with a little game of "by the numbers" to break down the top stories to watch for.

When thinking about U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte, a few things come to mind. "He's better than Michael Phelps." "He'll win six gold medals at the London Olympics."

The Duel in the Pool match up between Team USA and the European all-stars last weekend told the story of the swimming world in 2011 - the U.S. ruled the pool.

There was little surprise in the result of the women's 800m free, where Denmark's Lotte Friis nearly chased down a world record in an easy victory Saturday at the Duel in the Pool.

The bi-annual Duel in the Pool, pitting the top U.S. swimmers against a team of European all-stars, was held last weekend at the Georgia Tech Aquatics Center, site of the 1996 Olympic swimming events.

Ryan Lochte, Brendan Hansen and Missy Franklin had so much fun in Atlanta two weeks ago at the U.S. Winter Nationals that they are already heading back. This time around they will be competing on the same team, and along with thirty-two of the top swimmers in the U.S. will take on the best that the Europeans have to offer in the fifth iteration of the Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool.

This weekend I had the opportunity to travel to Omaha to help promote the 2012 Olympic Trials. I was so excited when USA Swimming asked me to do this because of how much I'm looking forward to this coming June. I was able to experience 2008 trials at this same pool and let me just say, there's a reason we're going back.

Michael Phelps will not be at the AT&T USA Swimming Nationals this weekend, and he won't be going to the Duel in the Pool in two weeks either. It is not that he has gone underground, but instead he's taking a different approach to his final year as a competitive swimmer. Looking to go out on a high note in London, Phelps is going back to the basics but with a new confidence and more relaxed mindset.

On January 1, 2010, FINA banned full-body neoprene and polyurethane swimsuits after 43 world records were broken at the 2009 Swimming World Championships in Rome. From that point forward only textile* suits would be allowed at competitive swim meets around the world, with men's cuts only allowed to extend from the waist to the knee and women's from the shoulder to knee.

Ask any athlete what they eat and you'll typically get the same answer. Chicken and lean meat. Fresh vegetables. Fish. Rice. In the case of U.S. swimmer Dana Vollmer, however, something else has piqued her interest: pizza.