Lochte Locks Up Two Top Seeds for Saturday Swim Finals; Dwyer, Tullius, Vanderkaay Also Advance
Saturday, June 30, 2012 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Gator Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) turned in the fastest time in the world this year in the 200-meter IM (1:55.51) semifinals, cruising to the top overall seed in both the 200 IM and 200-meter back on day five of U.S.A Swimming Olympic Trials at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha Friday.
Storied foe Michael Phelps touched in second behind Lochte in the 200 IM, while Gator Conor Dwyer (Winnetka, Ill.) – who clocked the fastest 200 IM in prelims – advanced to the championship final as the third overall seed (1:58.32) behind the Lochte/Phelps duo, setting up a showdown for Saturday finals.
Gainesville-based swimmer Peter Vanderkaay will join in on the 200 IM finals action Saturday, qualifying as the six seed after a 2:00.33 semifinals performance.
On a four-swim Friday, Lochte additionally notched the top seed in the 200-meter backstroke (1:55.73), bringing fellow Gator and Daytona Beach native Rex Tullius (Daytona Beach, Fla.) alongside with him to finals, as Tullius checked in fifth (1:58.79) in the event.
In other Friday finals action, Gator grad Teresa Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa.) gave it her all in the finals of the 200-meter butterfly as the three seed, racing to a 2:09.45 – her best time in the event at Trials – but fell just short of a top-two London ticket with a fourth-place overall finish. The day's top two seeds in the event, Cammile Adams and Kathleen Hersey, earned the right to sport the Stars and Stripes at the 2012 Olympic Games.
Florida freshman Matt Elliott (Peoria, Ill.) went out with the best-of-the-best as the eight seed Friday in the 200-meter breast championship heat – the first event of the evening – where he posted a 2:12.71 final race. The two-time Gator All-American added another accolade as one of just eight U.S. Swimmers with a 2012 Olympic Trials finals appearance in the event. Scott Weltz and Clark Burckle claimed the automatic bids in first and second, respectively.
For the Gators, Beisel, Dwyer, Lochte and Vanderkaay have all stamped tickets to London, Beisel in the 400 IM, Dwyer in the 400 free and 800 free relay for his first Olympic appearance, Lochte in the 400 IM, 200 free and 800 free relay, while Vanderkaay took top honors in the 400 free to qualify for his first Olympic Games.
The 2012 USA Swimming Olympic Trials continue Saturday, Sunday and Monday from the CenturyLink Center in Omaha.
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 and Pacific time zones at 7 p.m. and at 8 p.m., respectively.
A full recap of each day's events and results will be available on GatorZone.com. For news, schedules, events and the Facebook and Twitter feeds of the 2012 Olympic Trials, please log on to the USA Swimming website.
For up-to-the-minute information on everything Florida swimming related, follow swimming and diving on Twitter @GatorZoneSwimDv. You can also follow the Gators on Facebook.
FRIDAY RESULTS
FINALS
Men's 200 Breast Final
8. Matt Elliott 2:12.71
Men's 200 Back Semifinal
1. Ryan Lochte 1:55.73 – advances to finals
5. Rex Tullius 1:58.79 – advances to finals
Women's 200 Fly Final
4. Teresa Crippen 2:09.45
Men's 200 IM Semifinal
1. Ryan Lochte 1:55.51 – fastest time in world this year, advances to finals
3. Conor Dwyer 1:58.32 – advances to finals
6. Peter Vanderkaay 2:00.33 – advances to finals
PRELIMS
Women's 100 Free
42. Jamie Bohunicky 56.48
75. Kaitlin Frehling 57.21
130. Lindsey McKnight 59.22
Men's 200 Back
1. Ryan Lochte 1:57.24
6. Rex Tullius 1:59.95
46. Harrison Curley 2:03.90
70. Connor Signorin 2:05.32
92. Austin Ringquist 2:07.03
98. John Koehler 2:07.17
Women's 200 Breast
105. Julia Treible 2:41.01
Men's 200 IM
1. Conor Dwyer 1:59.11
4. Ryan Lochte 1:59.92
5. Peter Vanderkaay 2:00.01
29. Matt Curby 2:04.10
32. Mike Joyce 2:04.36
44. Alex Martin 2:05.08
54. Carlos Omana 2:05.49
76. Connor Signorin 2:06.40
113. Austin Ringquist 2:11.09
FRIDAY SLATE
| Saturday, June 30 (PRELIMS): 11 a.m. ET | |
| Men's 50m Free Women's 800m Free Men's 100m Fly Women's 200m Back Saturday, June 30 (FINALS): 7:45 p.m. ET Men's 50m Free - Semifinal Women's 200m Breast - Final Men's 200m Back - Final Women's 200m Back - Semifinal Men's 200m IM - Final Women's 100m Free - Final Men's 100m Fly - Semifinal |
