Spofforth Becomes UF's First Female Athlete to Qualify for Beijing Olympics
Monday, April 7, 2008 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Sophomore Gemma Spofforth became the first Gator of the women's swimming and diving team to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, becoming eligible for Great Britain's team in the 100 and 200 backstroke events. The sophomore also becomes Florida's first female athlete to qualify for the Beijing Games.
Spofforth used two record setting swims at the British National Championships to clinch her spot on the British team, setting new UF school records in both the 100 and 200 back. Her time in the 100 back of 59.89 broke her previous record of 1:01.81 that she set last summer during the U.S. ConocoPhillips National Championships. She shaved exactly one one-hundredth off her preliminary time of 59.90 to win the event.
The sophomore would go on to qualify the 200 back after touching in with a second place time of 2:09.70 in the final, again shaving one one-hundredth of a second off her time in preliminaries. The swim represents a new school record in the 200-meter backstroke by 1.30 seconds. Spofforth now holds UF records in each of the backstroke events, both in yards and meter distances
Spofforth will join J.B. Walsh (Philippines), Bradley Ally (Barbados), Shaune Fraser (The Cayman Islands), Brett Fraser (The Cayman Islands) and Omar Pinzon (Colombia) of the Florida men's team on the deck in Beijing and becomes the first female athlete from Florida to qualify for The Games this summer.
In less than a month's time, Spofforth qualified for the Olympics and became just the second female swimmer in school history to win both the 100 and 200 back championships at both the SEC and NCAA meets, joining Kristen Linehan as the only two Gators to ever accomplish the feat. Spofforth also set the school record in all four of the backstroke events, the 100- and 200-yard and the 100- and 200-meter over the course of the SEC and NCAA Championships and British Olympic Trials.
In order to qualify for the team, Spofforth was required to finish first or second in her selected events and touch in with a time that meets the FINA 'A' standard for that event.
Florida's American swimmers will await their turn at Beijing glory, looking forward to the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska. Nearly all of the UF women's swimming and diving team has qualified for the Trials.
