Lochte Collects First Heat Win of Trials

After an impressive performance in the 200 IM preliminary, Ryan Lochte will move on to Thursday night's semifinal.

Lochte Collects First Heat Win of Trials

Thursday, June 30, 2016 | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving, Olympics

The defending silver medalist qualifies for tonight's 200 IM semifinals

By: Layne Weitzel

GATORS IN PRELIMINARIES
THURSDAY, JUNE 30
Name	Event	Place (Time)
Natalie Hinds	100 Free	40 (56.31)
Ryan Lochte	200 Back	scratched
Brennan Balogh	200 Back	30 (2:02.15)
Harrison Haines	200 Back	93 (2:05.74)
Elizabeth Beisel	200 Breast	scratched
Hannah Burns	200 Breast	116 (2:39.08)
Ryan Lochte	200 IM	1 (1:58.05)
Conor Dwyer	200 IM	scratched
Alex Lebed	200 IM	31 (2:03.98)
Ross Palazzo	200 IM	73 (2:07.01)
Caeleb Dressel	200 IM	disqualified -- no-show
Brennan Balogh	200 IM	70 (2:06.84)

OMAHA, Neb. -- Throughout the first four days of U.S. Olympic Team Trials, first place evaded Ryan Lochte -- until today.

Lochte took top honors in the men's 200 IM preliminaries, placing first in his heat and across the field at 1:58.05. He will advance to the event's semifinals tonight.

Lochte is the defending silver medalist in the 200 IM. He also won bronze in the event in the 2008 Olympics and silver in 2004.

The 11-time Olympic medalist had not yet won a heat or event in this year's trials. Earlier this week, he qualified for Rio in the men's 4x200 freestyle relay after a fourth-place finish in the 200 freestyle finals.

Alex Lebed, Ross Palazzo and Brennan Balogh also appeared in the 200 IM. Lebed, improving his seed by 11 spots, placed 31st at 2:03.98. He finished third in Heat 7. Brennan Balogh also bettered his 81 seed, finishing 70th overall at 2:06.84. Ross Palazzo swam a 2:07.01, staying true to his 73 seed.

Caeleb Dressel was scheduled to swim the event but was disqualified when he no-showed on the blocks. He will swim the men's 100 freestyle finals tonight with Conor Dwyer, who scratched the 200 IM Wednesday night.

Balogh and Harrison Haines also competed in the men's 200 backstroke, with Balogh finishing in 30th place at 2:02.15 and Haines placing 93rd at 2:05.74.

Only one Gator saw action in the women's 100 freestyle, which opened the morning's preliminary swims. Natalie Hinds swam a 56.31 en route to a tie for 40th place.

Hannah Burns was the lone Florida swimmer in the women's 200 breaststroke after Elizabeth Beisel scratched Wednesday night. Burns placed 116th with a 2:39.08 time.

Each day of trials will begin with preliminary heats at 11 a.m. EST and conclude with event finals and semifinals at 8 p.m. EST. Estimated start times for each preliminary event can be found here, and the event schedule for the entire meet can be found on the USA Swimming website.

Prelims will be broadcast live daily on the NBC Sports app and online and on edited tape-delay on the NBC Sports Network. Event semifinals and finals will air live on NBC and online. The full TV schedule is available here.

FloridaGators.com will recap the Gators' performance after each day of trials. Follow along on Twitter at @GatorsSwimDv, @GatorsOlympics and @USASwimming, and check out the hashtags #GatorsAlways and #SwimTrials16 for more immediate coverage.

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