Complete Coverage of Gators Competing at the Olympic Games on July 31
Tuesday, July 31, 2012 | General, Olympics
Tuesday was a great day for the 11 different Gator letterwinners who competed at the 2012 Olympic Games in the sports of soccer, swimming and tennis on Tues., July 31.
CHECK OUT today's Olympic Gators PHOTO GALLERY (updated as more become available) – courtesy US Presswire
Swimming
The day was highlighted by the men's 4x200m freestyle relay as Gators Ryan Lochte and Conor Dwyer earned gold with the United States relay team. Lochte led off the relay with a 1:45.15 split and Dwyer's second leg of 1:45.23 gave the Americans a huge lead that the rest of the field was unable to overcome. The U.S.A blistered the field and finished in a time of 6:59.70, three seconds ahead of second place France.
This gave Lochte three medals so far in the London Games (two gold and one silver) and Dwyer earned his first Olympic gold medal.
The South African 4x200 free relay team also consisted of two Gators. Current student-athlete Sebastian Rousseau swam the second leg of the relay. They finished seventh overall in a time of 7:09.65.
Former Gator Jemma Lowe (Great Britain) advanced to the 200m butterfly final tomorrow at 3:09 p.m. ET. Lowe finished fifth in her semifinal heat in a time of 2:07.37.
Brett Fraser and Shaune Fraser each competed in the men's 100m freestyle semifinal for Cayman Islands on Tuesday. Brett finished seventh in the first heat with a time of 48.92 and Shaune finished eighth in the heat with a time of 49.07. They did not advance to Wednesday's final.
Soccer
Gator Great Abby Wambach provided the game-winning goal as the U.S. Women's National Team swept the group stage of the 2012 London Olympics with a 1-0 victory against Korea DPR on Tuesday.
Wambach scored a goal for a third straight Olympic match and the USA took first place in Group G with a convincing win in front of 29,522 at Old Trafford, home of the Premier League's Manchester United. The U.S. needed only a draw or better to assure itself a first-place finish in group play.
The goal was the 141st for Wambach in international play and marked the 50th for the red, white and blue in Olympic action.
Heather Mitts did not enter the match for the USA Tuesday. Another Gator, Melanie Booth, was part of the Canada roster Tuesday for its 2-2 draw with Sweden. Booth was an alternate for the Canadian team and her activation for Tuesday's match give Florida its 38th athlete with Gator ties for this Olympiad.
The U.S. advances to quarterfinal action, which begins Friday, Aug. 3, when the USA will play New Zealand at 9:30 a.m. ET.
Canada takes on Great Britain on Friday at 2:30 p.m. ET in its quarterfinal game.
Tennis
Gator great Lisa Raymond and her partner Liezel Huber won their 2012 Olympic second round women's doubles match on Tuesday, defeating Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska and Urszula Radwanska, 6-4, 7-6 (3) at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.
As the top-seed in the 32-team event, Raymond and Huber received a first-round bye and now find themselves in the quarterfinals after Tuesday's straight-set win.
Raymond held serve three times in the opening set against the Polish pair, holding at love to take the first frame. Radwanska and Radwanska regrouped in the second set and took a 5-2 lead before Raymond again serve a love game and then the USA pair earned the important break before Huber held and got the set back on-serve at 5-all. Both teams held on the next trip to the baseline and the second headed to a tiebreak.
Poland held to begin the breaker, before Huber collected both of her serves and the USA led 2-1. Raymond and Huber then earned a mini break on the fourth point and again in the eighth to take a 6-2 lead en route to the victory.
Statistically, the match was nearly even, with the main difference being unforced errors, where the USA had six compared to Poland's 15.
Raymond and Huber face Russia's Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesina in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, when they will be the first match on court 5 at 9:30 a.m. ET.
The Olympic mixed doubles pairings and draw were unveiled on Tuesday and Raymond will have a second chance at a medal as she teams with Mike Bryan as the No. 3 seed in the 16-team event. Raymond and Bryan meet Italy's Sara Errani and Andreas Seppi in the first round on Wednesday and will be the sixth match on court 5, where action begins at 9:30 a.m. ET.
On July 8, 2012, Raymond paired with Mike Bryan and won the Wimbledon Mixed Doubles Championship. Mixed doubles will be contested at the Olympic Games for the first time since 1924.
Check HERE for a detailed schedule of all Olympics events involving Gators!
| Gator Letterwinners at the 2012 Olympic Games: Schedule & Results for Tuesday, July 31, 2012 | ||||||
| Gator | Sport | Country | Time (ET) | Event | Opponent (if applies) | Result |
| Swimming | Cayman Islands | 5:00 AM | Heats: 100m Freestyle | -- | 3rd in heat, 48.54, advanced to semifinal | |
| Swimming | Cayman Islands | 5:00 AM | Heats: 100m Freestyle | -- | 6th in heat, 48.99, advanced to semifinal | |
| Swimming | Great Britain | 5:25 AM | Heats: 200m Butterfly | -- | 2nd in heat, 2:07.64, advanced to semifinal | |
| Swimming | U.S.A. | 6:17 AM | Heats: 4x200m Freestyle Relay | -- | 1ST place qualifier, 7:06.75, advanced to final | |
| Swimming | South Africa | 6:17 AM | Heats: 4x200m Freestyle Relay | -- | 3rd in heat, 7:11.51, advanced to final | |
| Tennis | U.S.A. | 3rd match on court 14 starting at 6:30 AM | Second Round Doubles | Radwanska/Radwanska (Poland) | Won: 6-4, 7-6 (3) | |
| Soccer | Canada | 9:30 AM | Preliminary Round, Group F | Sweden | Tied 2-2 (active for game) | |
| Soccer | U.S.A. | 12:17 PM | Preliminary Round, Group G | DPR Korea | USA won 1-0 (did not play) | |
| Soccer | U.S.A. | 12:17 PM | Preliminary Round, Group G | DPR Korea | USA won 1-0 (scored game's only goal) | |
| Swimming | Cayman Islands | 2:30 PM | Semifinals: 100m Freestyle | -- | 7th in semifinal heat, 48.92, did not advance | |
| Swimming | Cayman Islands | 2:30 PM | Semifinals: 100m Freestyle | -- | 8th in semifinal heat, 49.07, did not advance | |
| Swimming | Great Britain | 2:55 PM | Semifinals: 200m Butterfly | -- | 5th in semfinal heat, 2:07.37, advanced to final | |
| Swimming | U.S.A. | 3:47 PM | Final: 4x200m Freestyle Relay | -- | WON GOLD MEDAL, 6:59.70 | |
| Swimming | U.S.A. | 3:47 PM | Final: 4x200m Freestyle Relay | -- | WON GOLD MEDAL, 6:59.70 | |
| Swimming | South Africa | 3:47 PM | Final: 4x200m Freestyle Relay | -- | Finished 7th, 7:09.65 | |
| Gator 2012 Olympic Games Medal Count: (5 Medals: 3 Gold, 2 Silver) | ||||
| Gator | Sport | Country | Event | Medal |
| Swimming | U.S.A. | 400m IM | Gold | |
| Swimming | U.S.A. | 400m IM | Silver | |
| Swimming | U.S.A | 4x100m Free Relay | Silver | |
| Swimming | U.S.A. | 4x200m Free Relay | Gold | |
| Swimming | U.S.A | 4x200m Free Relay | Gold | |
| All-Time Gator Olympic Games Medal Count (since 1968): Total: 96 medals (47 Gold, 25 Silver, 24 Bronze) Summer Games: 95 medals (46 Gold, 25 Silver, 24 Bronze) Winter Games: 1 medal (1 Gold) | ||||
For all of the latest information on Gators competing at the 2012 Olympic Games, please visit http://www.gatorzone.com/olympics/2012/ or follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@OlympicGators.
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