Florida Swimmers Complete Day Two of Olympic Trials
Friday, July 9, 2004 | Men's Swimming & Diving
LONG BEACH, Calif.—Eight University of Florida men's and women's swimmers competed in day two of the 2004 U.S. and Canadian Olympic swimming trials on Thursday in hopes of reaching the Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
Competing for a spot on the Olympic women's swim team was Maureen Farrell in the 100 backstroke. Her preliminary time of 1:03.56 was good for 10th place and granted her a spot in the semifinals of the event. In the semifinals she again placed 10th, with an effort of 1:03.38 just shy of making to the final round. Also advancing onto the next round, former Gator Sara McLarty swam the 400 free in 4:11.69 for a third-place showing and an advancement onto the final round where she took fourth with a 4:11.30 effort.
Finishing 12th in the 400 free was Caroline Burckle who will join the Gators this upcoming season. Burckle finished the race in 4:13.91. Also in the event were All-American Meredith Green and Jamie Tannhauser who clocked in at 4:23.70 and 4:25.19 respectively.
Adam Sioui, the only Gator competing at the Canadian Olympic trials in Toronto, Ontario, turned in the best result as he placed second in the 200 butterfly preliminaries in a time of 2:03.56 to qualify for the Final "A" heat for the second time in as many days. In the final, Sioui captured the silver medal in a time of 2:01.11, but did not meet the Olympic qualifying time of 1:57.49.
In the U.S. Olympic trials the Gators had two men in action with one advancing to the finals. Ryan Lochte, who placed ninth in the preliminaries of the 200 freestyle in a clocking of 1:49.93, came back in the semifinals to grab eighth place in a time of 1:49.83 to advance into the final heat which will be contested today. In the 100 backstroke Brian Hartley finished in a time of 57.96 seconds which was good enough for 26th place in the event.
Entering today's Olympic trial events the Gator men and women have 26 athletes still competing for spots to qualify for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
The U.S. and Canadian Olympic trials will continue today and end with final heats on July 14 and July 10. Results from these trials can be found at www.usaswimming.org and www.swimming.ca. For more information on Gator athletes, visit www.gatorzone.com for daily updates.
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