Dwyer and Beisel punch tickets to Rio on Day 1 of trials

Elizabeth Beisel clinched her third straight Olympics trip with her 400 IM finish on Sunday night at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials.

Dwyer and Beisel punch tickets to Rio on Day 1 of trials

Sunday, June 26, 2016 | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving, Olympics

Twelve Gators competed in four events on Sunday

By: Layne Weitzel

GATORS IN PRELIMINARIES
SUNDAY, JUNE 26
Name	Event		Place (Time)
Ryan Lochte	400 IM		2 (4:11.98)
Alex Lebed	400 IM		31 (4:25.34)
Brennan Balogh	400 IM		62 (4:29.94)
Ross Palazzo	400 IM		84 (4:34.24)
Natalie Hinds	100 Fly		70 (1:01.08)
Conor Dwyer	400 Free		2 (3:47.15)
Arthur Frayler	400 Free		69 (3:59.80)
Ben Lawless	400 Free		43 (3:57.86)
Andrew Brady	400 Free		21 (3:55.16)
Blake Manganiello	400 Free		53 (3:58.85)
Elizabeth Beisel	400 IM		2 (4:37.61)
Hannah Burns	400 IM		45 (4:53.69)
Caeleb Dressel	100 Breast		scratched
Ross Palazzo	100 Breast		scratched
MONDAY, JUNE 27
Name		Event	Seed (Qualifying Time)
Elizabeth Beisel		100 Back	scratched
Sydney Sell		100 Back	98 (1:02.95)
Ryan Lochte		200 Free	1 (1:45.36)
Conor Dwyer		200 Free	2 (1:45.41)
Caeleb Dressel		200 Free	15 (1:48.39)
Grady Heath		200 Free	89 (1:51.62)
Caeleb Dressel		100 Back	scratched
Brennan Balogh		100 Back	120 (56.83)
Harrison Haines		100 Back	130 (56.91)
Elizabeth Beisel		400 Free	scratched
Taylor Katz		400 Free	78 (4:16.90)
Kahra Williams		400 Free	81 (4:16.97)
TUESDAY, JUNE 28
Elizabeth Beisel		200 Free	16 (1:58.66)
Elizabeth Beisel		200 IM	10 (2:12.43)
Hannah Burns		200 IM	81 (2:17.78)
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29
Caeleb Dressel		100 Free	4 (48.74)
Ryan Lochte		100 Free	8 (48.90)
Conor Dwyer		100 Free	12 (49.06)
Bradley Deborde		100 Free	41 (50.00)
Elizabeth Beisel		200 Fly	15 (2:10.72)
Taylor Katz		200 Fly	30 (2:12.51)
Alyssa Yambor-Maul		200 Fly	80 (2:14.49)
Sierra Kuhn		200 Fly	82 (2:14.53)
Ross Palazzo		200 Breast	40 (2:16.00)
THURSDAY, JUNE 30
Natalie Hinds		100 Free	28 (55.47)
Ryan Lochte		200 Back	4 (1:56.47)
Brennan Balogh		200 Back	30 (2:00.78)
Harrison Haines		200 Back	55 (2:02.22)
Elizabeth Beisel		200 Breast	75 (2:33.35)
Hannah Burns		200 Breast	96 (2:34.18)
Ryan Lochte		200 IM	2 (1:55.81)
Conor Dwyer		200 IM	3 (1:57.41)
Alex Lebed		200 IM	42 (2:03.59)
Ross Palazzo		200 IM	73 (2:04.52)
Caeleb Dressel		200 IM	76 (2:04.60)
Brennan Balogh		200 IM	81 (2:04.68)
FRIDAY, JULY 1
Caeleb Dressel	50 Free		2 (21.53)
Bradley Deborde	50 Free		17 (22.37)
Elizabeth Beisel	800 Free		21 (8:39.76)
Kahra Williams	800 Free		34 (8:42.65)
Autumn Finke	800 Free		79 (8:49.43)
Ryan Lochte	100 Fly		5 (51.55)
Caeleb Dressel	100 Fly		20 (52.96)
Ben Kennedy	100 Fly		95 (54.56)
Elizabeth Beisel	200 Back		3 (2:08.33)
Sydney Sell	200 Back		42 (2:13.23)
Alyssa Yambor-Maul	200 Back		91 (2:15.56)
SATURDAY, JULY 2
Natalie Hinds		50 Free	37 (25.64)
Arthur Frayler		1500 Free	10 (15:14.09)
Ben Lawless		1500 Free	56 (15:40.79)
Blake Manganiello		1500 Free	81 (15:45.91)
Andrew Brady		1500 Free	94 (15:48.11)
SUNDAY, JULY 3
NO PRELIMINARIES

OMAHA, Neb. -- Florida had an eventful first day of U.S. Olympic Team Trials at the CenturyLink Center, sending two Gator greats to the 2016 Summer Olympics in two events.

Conor Dwyer was first to punch his ticket to Rio, placing second in the men's 400 freestyle finals with a career-best time of 3:44.66. Elizabeth Beisel followed in the women's 400 IM finals, also finishing second at 4:36.81. They join eight other Gator swimmers who have already qualified for the Olympics in their countries' trials: Mitch D'Arrigo (Italy), Hilda Luthersdottir (Iceland), Corey Main (New Zealand), Sebastien Rousseau (South Africa), Eduardo Solaeche-Gomez (Spain), Dan Wallace (Great Britain), Jan Switkowski (Poland) and Pawel Werner (Poland).

This trip marks three straight Olympics for two-time medalist Beisel and two straight for one-time medalist Dwyer.

Eleven-time medalist Ryan Lochte led for most of the men's 400 IM, the lone event he swam on Sunday. However, competitors Chase Kalisz and Jay Litherland pulled away in the end, shutting Lochte out of clinching a fourth-straight Olympics trip on the first day of trials.

Lochte had not swam the 400 IM in a major international or national competition since the 2012 Olympics in London, but he still placed third in the finals at 4:12.02 -- the sixth-fastest time in the world this year in the event.

Nine other current Gators and alumni also competed in the opening day of trials, many improving on initial seeds and qualifying times.

Alex Lebed, Brennan Balogh, Ross Palazzo and Lochte opened the trials for Florida with swims in the men's 400 IM morning prelims. All four improved their seeds. Lochte came in second in his heat at 4:11.98 despite being projected at fourth. Lebed, who was initially seeded 44th overall in the event, finished 31st at 4:25.34, bettering his collegiate-best time of 4:31.80. Balogh jumped from an 83rd seed to a 62nd finish overall with a time of 4:29.94, also topping a previous best of 4:36.21. Ross Palazzo was the last Gator in the event, finishing 84th overall when he was initially seeded 95th. He swam a 4:34.24, improving on a collegiate-low 4:38.50.

Natalie Hinds was the only Gator to appear in the women's 100m butterfly prelims, placing 70th overall at 1:01.08.

The men's 400 freestyle prelims was also a busy event for UF with five Gators making appearances. Conor Dwyer led the way for Florida, finishing second overall and improving one seed spot with a time of 3:47.15. Andrew Brady enjoyed one of the best performances of the day for Florida, winning his heat and placing 21st overall at 3:55.16, which beat his 3:58.15 collegiate-best. Brady was initially projected to finish 93rd. Ben Lawless finished 43rd overall, up from a 53 seed, and swam to a 3:57.86 time. Blake Manganiello also made a big jump in seeds from a 96th projection to a finish at 53rd overall with a 3:58.85 time. Arthur Frayler rounded out the event, placing 69th at 3:59.80.

Next for the day was the women's 400 IM prelims. Elizabeth Beisel lived up to expectations, placing second overall and matching her initial seed of 2nd. She finished in 4:37.61. Hannah Burns was the only current Gator to swim the event, finishing with a time of 4:53.69. Her tie for 45th overall was up from a projected 62nd seed. Three incoming Gators also appeared in the prelims -- Makayla Sargent (finishing 22nd with a time of 4:50.22), Kelly Fertel (finishing 57th with a time of 4:55.50) and Savanna Faulconer (who was disqualified during her swim).

The men's 100m breaststroke was the final preliminary event of the morning. Palazzo and Caeleb Dressel were initially scheduled to swim the event but scratched. However, Florida still had a presence in signee Chandler Bray, who swam a 1:03.35 time en route to 72nd place.

The trials will continue with Day 2 on Monday with five events -- men's and women's 100 backstroke, men's 200 freestyle, women's 100 breaststroke and women's 400 freestyle. Florida has swimmers scheduled for all events except the women's 100 breaststroke.

Each day will begin with preliminary heats at 11 a.m. ET and conclude with event finals and semifinals at 7:45 p.m. ET. Estimated start times for each preliminary event can be found here, and the event schedule for the entire meet can be found on the USA Swimming website.

Prelims will be broadcast live daily on the NBC Sports app and online and on edited tape-delay on the NBC Sports Network. Event semifinals and finals will air live on NBC and online. The full TV schedule is available here.

FloridaGators.com will recap the Gators' performance after each day of trials. Follow along on Twitter at @GatorsSwimDv, @GatorsOlympics and @USASwimming, and check out the hashtags GatorsAlways and SwimTrials16 for more immediate coverage.