Gators Have Sights Set on London as Lochte and Dwyer Punch Second Ticket to Olympics
Wednesday, June 27, 2012 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Another night down, and two more Gators have punched their tickets to London.
Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) and Conor Dwyer (Winnetka, Ill.) made headway in the finals of the 200 free, as they both earned the right to compete under the Olympic rings this summer for the second time this week.
For the third night in a row, Lochte went head-to-head with his biggest competitor, Michael Phelps.
Monday, Lochte prevailed in the 400 IM, Tuesday he out-touched Phelps in the semi-finals of the 200 free, but on Wednesday, it was Phelps who had the advantage in the 200 free finals. The North Baltimore Aquatics Club swimmer took the top spot in 1:45.70, while Lochte settled in right behind him at 1:45.75 as the duo put together matching 26.59 splits on the final 50.
Despite the second-place finish at Trials, Lochte will still represent the Red, White and Blue this summer in the 200 free.
The Lochte-Phelps duo is expected to go head-to-head again on Saturday night in the 200 IM final.
Fellow Gator, Dwyer, clinched his second guaranteed spot in the 2012 Games after he touched fourth in the 200 free finals with a 1:46.64 effort. He joins Lochte, Phelps and Ricky Berens as part of the 800 free relay team. Because of his efforts, there will be two members of the Gator family in the 800 free relay.
On the women's side, sophomore Elizabeth Beisel (North Kingstown, R.I.) made headway yet again, touching third with a time of 2:12.27 in the 200 IM semifinals. She will go up against the top-two seeds – Caitlin Leverenz and Elizabeth Pelton – in tomorrow night's final for the right to sport the Stars and Stripes for the second time this summer in London.
While they didn't progress past the preliminary heat, the Gators had a strong presence in the women's 200 freestyle as Beisel, Teresa Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa.) and Jamie Bohunicky (Gainesville, Fla.) all combined to finish in the top-25.
Beisel touched 13th for the right to swim in tonight's semi-finals, but scratched to focus on the 200 IM semi-finals. Crippen and Bohunicky finished back-to-back at 21st and 22nd with times of 2:00.73 and 2:00.76, respectively.
The 2012 Olympic Swim Trials will continue again tomorrow with preliminary heats in the men's 100 free and 200 breast, as well as the women's 200 fly; semifinals in the men's 100 free, 200 breast and women's 200 fly; followed by finals in both the women's 200 free and IM and men's 200 fly.
All but the fastest heats of preliminaries will be webcast live at www.usaswimming.org June 25-July 1. NBC Sports will broadcast the fastest 2-4 heats of preliminaries on tape delay later that day. Please note that finals will air live on NBC at 8 p.m. ET and at 7 p.m. CT. Finals will air tape delayed in the Mountain Time zone at 7 p.m. and at 8 p.m. in the Pacific Time zone.
A full recap of each day's events and results will be available on GatorZone.com. For new, schedules, events and the Facebook and Twitter feeds of the 2012 Olympic Trials, please log on tohttp://www.usaswimming.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabId=1450
For all the latest information on Florida women's swimming and diving, please log on to www.GatorZne.com/swimmingdiving/women or, for up-to-the-minute information on everything Florida swimming, follow swimming and diving on Twitter @GatorZoneSwimDv. You can also follow the Gators on Facebook.
Women's 200 Meter Freestyle
Elizabeth Beisel, NP, 1:59.79 (scratched from semi-finals)
Teresa Crippen, 21st, 2:00.73
Jamie Bohunicky, 22nd, 2:00.76
Lindsey McKnight, 67th, 2:03.83
Men's 200 Meter Freestyle
Ryan Lochte, 2nd, 1:45.75, Olympic Qualifier (200 Free & 800 FR)
Conor Dwyer, 4th, 1:46.64, Olympic Qualifier (800 FR)
Men's 100 Meter Back
Ben Hesen, 4th, 53.03
Men's 200 Meter Fly
Cameron Martin, 28th, 2:01.01
Jason Taylor, 65th, 2:02.98
Austin Manganiello, 72nd, 2:03.24
Michael Joyce, 89th, 2:03.90
Carlos Oman, 108th, 2:05.30
Women's 200 Meter IM
Sierra Kuhn, 25th, 2:17.08
Rebecca Rainer, 69th, 2:20.02
Ashlee Linn, 72nd, 2:20.35
Trish Regan, 110th, 2:25.64
