FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, July 31st, 2019

RYAN LOCHTE & REGAN SMITH HIGHLIGHT THIS WEEK’S OLYMPIC SPORTS PROGRAMMING ACROSS NBC SPORTS

 Live Coverage of the Phillips 66 USA Swimming National Championships, Part of the 2019 Team USA Champions Series, Presented by Xfinity, Begins Tonight at 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN

Additional Olympic Sports Programming This Week Includes Women’s Volleyball Olympic Qualification Tournament & Beach Volleyball World Tour

STAMFORD, Conn. – July 31, 2019 – 12-time Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte and women’s 100m and 200m backstroke world record holder Regan Smith (age 17) headline NBC Sports’ coverage of the Phillips 66 USA Swimming National Championships, part of the 2019 Team USA Champions Series, presented by Xfinity, in Palo Alta, CA starting tonight at 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN. All Olympic sports coverage televised and streamed across NBC Sports platforms is presented by Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA.

The 2019 Team USA Champions Series, presented by Xfinity, includes eight Olympic sports and highlights the journey of Team USA athletes leading up to the Olympic Games (Tokyo 2020) and Olympic Winter Games (Beijing 2022).

Following the World Championships in South Korea, some of the nation’s top swimmers will compete in Palo Alto this week. The Phillips 66 USA Swimming National Championships will mark the return of Ryan Lochte, who will compete in his first meet after a 14-month suspension for violating anti-doping rules. He is expected to compete in several events, including the 200m individual medley, in which he has three Olympic medals and is the world record holder (set in 2011).

On the women’s side, Regan Smith will compete less than a week after breaking the women’s 200m backstroke world record and leading the women’s 4x100m medley relay team to a gold medal and new world record (both in the relay and in the 100m backstroke as the lead-off leg) in South Korea. In addition, seven-time Olympic medalist Dana Vollmer will compete in the 100m butterfly this Friday, August 2 in her final career race.

Live TV coverage of the Phillips 66 USA Swimming National Championships begins tonight at 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN. NBC presents coverage Saturday, August 3 at 2 p.m. ET and Sunday, August 4 at 4 p.m. ET. Click here for the full schedule.

Following are additional programming highlights this week across NBC Sports:

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENT

ALL TEAM USA MATCHES WILL BE TELEVISED AND STREAMED LIVE, INCLUDING SUNDAY’S FINAL MATCH AT 2 P.M. ET ON NBC

Six Olympic spots are on the line this week during the women’s volleyball Olympic Qualification Tournament. The world’s top 24 volleyball teams are divided into six pools of four teams for the tournament, with each group playing a round robin in six locations throughout the world. Winning teams from each group will earn a spot for next summer’s Tokyo Olympics. The U.S. women, who recently won the Volleyball Nations League title, will play their tournament in Shreveport-Bossier City, Louisiana.

All 36 matches will stream live on OlympicChannel.com and the Olympic Channel app, and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA will have coverage of all six groups playing in the tournament, including every match from the United States’ group. Live TV coverage begins this Friday, August 2 at 4 p.m. ET on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA. This weekend’s coverage is highlighted by USA vs. Argentina on Sunday, August 4 at 2 p.m. ET on NBC. Click here for the full schedule.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL WORLD TOUR – VIENNA, AUSTRIA

OLYMPIC CHANNEL: HOME OF TEAM USA PRESENTS LIVE COVERAGE BEGINNING FRIDAY, AUGUST 2 AT 8 A.M. ET

The beach volleyball season continues with an FIVB World Tour stop in Vienna, Austria, the last five-star tournament before the 2018-19 World Tour Finals in September. The Americans are expected to be led by two-time Olympic medalist April Ross and her partner Alix Klineman, who finished second at the World Championships in July. Three-time Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings and Brooke Sweat will also compete for more qualification points, as the top two U.S. teams in the point standings next summer will earn spots at the Tokyo Games. On the men’s side, Americans Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena and Trevor Crabb/Tri Bourne are expected to compete.

Live TV coverage begins Friday, August 2 at 8 a.m. ET on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA. NBCSN presents coverage of the women’s final on Monday, August 5 at Noon ET. Click here for the full schedule.

– NBC SPORTS –