Usa olympics swimming trials 2012 results

Olympic swimming team is rapidly filling out. Fifteen male and female swimmers have cemented their spots in London. Swimming trials will conclude on July 2. Some of these current qualifiers may come as a surprise, while some reputable names are absent from the list of American representatives. A handful of relatively unknown competitors have made the cut thus far, but some veterans Natalie Coughlin, Dara Torres, Amanda Beard are in dangerous positions. Rachel Bootsma may only be 18 years old, but she didn't race that way in her second-place finish in the meter backstroke.

Bootsma's back performance bested legendary Natalie Coughlin and Bonnie Brandon. Upsetting Brandon is one thing, but Coughlin is the gold standard for women's Olympic swimming.

Defeating, arguably, America's greatest female swimming competitor is no small feat for a teenager. This will be Bootsma's first career Olympics.

She holds the national high school record in the back, and the Pan American Games' record as well, but this is the Olympic trials. The competition is completely different, and the moment can be too big for some.

Claire Donahue qualified for the Olympic team with her second-place finish in the meter butterfly. That alone is an accomplishment. No one expected Donahue to finish higher than either of these established fly competitors. In , Donahue qualified for the Olympic trials, but she had a very poor showing. She finished second in the National Championships in the fly, but this is a very different level of competition.

Christine Magnuson isn't going to be a member of the U. Olympic team this year. She failed to qualify in every one of her freestyle and butterfly events.

Magnuson isn't a swimming legend, but she's been very good in her young career. The year-old has five career medals in international competition and earned a silver medal in the fly at the Olympics in Beijing. Losing in her main event is one thing, but her failure to qualify in any event is amazing. Prior to the trials, she was expected to be one of the team's best fly swimmers.

Instead, she will be watching the games from home. Scott Weltz finished first in the meter breaststroke final from an underdog position. Brendan Hansen and Eric Shanteau both didn't qualify were the final's favorites.

Weltz has never qualified for an Olympic team. Shanteau and Hansen are both established performers, and this was their favorite race. No female swimmer has ever won seven medals in one Summer Olympics.

Missy Franklin, America's year-old sensation, will at least have a chance to make history in London after qualifying for her fourth individual event Sunday night she is likely to compete on three Olympic relay teams as well.

Franklin surged to a first-place finish in the meter backstroke finals, capping out a coming-out-party in Omaha. Competing in a group loaded with youth - seven of the eight finalists are in their teens - Franklin maintained about a body's length lead for much of the race.

Her winning time of The emerging superstar seemed relaxed when discussing her performance after the win. Elizabeth Beisel, who had already qualified for a spot on Team USA, finished second and will compete in the back at the Olympics.

Elizabeth Pelton settled for third place, falling a half-second short of qualifying for the London Games. While Janet Evans and Brendan Hansen continue to steal headlines, the most under-reported comeback story of U. Trials keeps getting better. Anthony Ervin, a gold medalist, returned to swimming in after an eight-year absence and has now qualified for Sunday's men's meter final with the field's best time.

Ervin, 31, left the sport in , right before what should have been his prime. He traveled, played music, read books and was essentially incommunicado with the rest of the swimming world. When reporters tried to track him down , the deep-thinking Ervin would respond with esoteric missives like:. There are lessons to be learned in literature, but perhaps fate has already spun into her wheel that learning from precept may not be enough for you. Ervin has long been revered for the almost effortless mechanics of his free style stroke.

All of which only adds to the intrigue surrounding Ervin. Philosopher-athlete leaves sport at his physical peak, wanders world, returns, displays preternatural gifts That means a fourth showdown between the two rivals, though I'd expect considerably less hype for this race compared to the three previous installments.

Phelps is the two-time defending Olympic champion in fly and a prohibitive favorite. Lochte is swimming to test his fitness and see if he can add a fifth individual event for London. Not exactly a stare-down. Even if Lochte qualifies, his coach told USA Today he won't necessarily contest the event later this summer. Tyler McGill is the other name to watch in this field. McGill won a bronze medal in fly at worlds and qualified for Sunday's final in the second-fastest time Phelps was first.

This is Franklin's strongest event and it represents her best chance of winning an individual gold medal in London. If she finishes in the top two Sunday as expected, Franklin will have qualified for four individual events. Oh yeah, and she's 17 years old. Kathleen Ledecky and Chloe Sutton are also in the mix for an Olympic berth. Ziegler should be a major player in the medal hunt come London. Ryan Lochte capped off a night of three swims in less than an hour—two of which were finals—by qualifying for the men's meter butterfly finals.

Swimming in the first semifinal heat, Lochte swam the race in Michael Phelps also advanced with a time of It was Phelps' second swim of the night.

Earlier in the day, year-old Anthony Ervin led the field in the meter freestyle semifinals. Nathan Adrian and Josh Schneider tied for second place in a dead heat, swimming in the same semifinal race.

Jessica Hardy won the women's meter freestyle on Saturday, finally qualifying her for the Olympics after having to withdraw due to a positive drug test in Missy Franklin finished in second after being in seventh place at the turn, and Natalie Coughlin snuck into sixth place to ensure she will be in London for the 4x relay.

It will be Coughlin's third straight appearance at the Olympic Games. Less than half an hour after his last final, Ryan Lochte didn't have the stamina to beat Michael Phelps in the men's meter individual medley. They hit the two top times in the world on Saturday, with Phelps swimming it in 1 minute, Third-place finisher Conor Dwyer was four seconds behind Lochte One last matchup between Phelps and Lochte will take place on Sunday, with both in separate heats of the meter butterfly semifinals late Saturday.

In the women's meter backstroke semifinals, Missy Franklin and Elizabeth Beisel, closely followed by Elizabeth Pelton, led the competitors in advancing to the final. This could be a three-woman race on Sunday, with Franklin likely to win and Beisel and Pelton battling for the second available Olympic spot on the U. Ryan Lochte won another final and will participate in the men's meter backstroke in London.

He didn't give all that he could in the race because his matchup with Michael Phelps in the meter individual medley looms in about half an hour. Tyler Clary also qualified for the Olympics in the back. Lochte won the race with a time of 1 minute, In the women's meter breaststroke final, Rebecca Soni won in Micah Lawrence will join Soni in London, as she finished second.

Amanda Beard's bid for an Olympic comeback ended with that race, as she finished in fifth place, three shy of qualifying. In Beard's last Olympics, Athens , she won the breast. Earlier in the day, Janet Evans failed to advance in the women's meter freestyle , finishing 53rd out of 65 in the preliminaries. She was still wet from the pool when she signed her retirement papers. Evans' last Olympic participation was in On Saturday, Omaha's headline-dominating aquatic titans will rendezvous one last time in the finals of the men's meter individual medley.

Winner gets bragging rights and a big burst of momentum, having won two of three event finals against his rival during U. Olympic Trials. Loser looks for answers as the clock ticks towards London. No doubt, it's a biggie. But swimming's leading alpha males will have to worry about more than just one another on this busy night of racing.

For Lochte, the IM final will come just minutes after his final swim in the back, an event he's expected to win here and in London. Phelps will swim the preliminary and semifinal rounds of the fly. Then there's this little nugget: Lochte might just join his rival in that fly, at least according to his coach , Gregg Troy.

Expected to drop the event, it appears Lochte will at least contest his preliminary heat. Were Lochte to follow through to Sunday's final, it would likely set up a surprise fourth showdown between he and Phelps. Evans, 40, last competed at US Trials in —the same year Macarena topped the charts for those seeking a barometric cultural reference. Less than an hour after leading the pack in the meter backstroke semifinals, Ryan Lochte beat out Michael Phelps for first place in their individual medley semifinal heat on Friday night.

Lochte, the event's world-record holder, finished in It was the swimming superstars' fourth meeting in three events at the U. Olympic trials in Omaha. In all four matchups - three of which have been won by Lochte - they have swam side-by-side in neighboring lanes. The pair of powerhouse performers surged ahead of the pack early and looked like men among boys.

Both claimed about a body-length lead through meters and built a remarkable cushion between them and the rest of the group by race's end. Phelps finished second with a time of Cody Miller, who took third place, touched the wall nearly five seconds later The result adds credence to the sentiment that the IM Olympic gold medal will ultimately hang around the neck of either Phelps or Lochte in London. Rebecca Soni surprised many when she settled for second place behind Breeja Larson in the meter breaststroke finals.

The London-bound swimmer didn't leave any room for her fellow competitors on Friday night, surging to the top qualifying time in the breast semifinals. The three-time Olympic medalist and event world-record holder reminded onlookers of her dominance by setting a trial record with a Soni secured first place by nearly three seconds.

Micah Lawrence finished second in Needless to say, Soni enters Saturday's breast final as the clear favorite to claim the first qualifying spot for the race in London. Other finalists include Amanda Beard, who is chasing her fifth Olympics appearance and Larson, the American leader in the breast final. Nathan Adrian and Cullen Jenkins both returned from the Summer Olympics in Beijing with gold medals in their possession.

Each will have an opportunity to add to their trophy case this summer in London. Adrian and Jenkins qualified for the London Olympics on Friday night by taking first and second place, respectively, in the meter freestyle final. Adrian finished with a time of Matt Grevers, who already earned a spot on the Olympic roster with a first-place finish in Thursday's backstroke final, settled for third place behind Adrian and Jenkins. Top qualifier Cammile Adams powered her way to a first-place finish in the meter butterfly, winning by over a second.

Adam's time of Both swimmers are officially bound for the Summer Games in London after their performances in the final. Hersey earned top honors in the fly at the national championships and led after meters of the race before Adams overtook her in the last leg. Vandenberg earned a bronze medal in Beijing as a member of the U.

As expected, Ryan Lochte led all competitors in Friday night's meter backstroke semifinals. The six-time Olympic medalist won gold in the event during the Games in Beijing and has his sights set on another run at the winner's podium. Lochte posted a Tyler Clary, who is already headed to London after taking second place in Thursday night's fly final, finished second behind Lochte with a time of Clary and Lochte appear to be head and shoulders above their fellow finals competitors based on Friday's results.

Ryan Murphy, an year-old who may be the future of America's backstroke swimmers, was the third-fastest finisher in the semifinals, nearly two second behind Clary. Those three will be joined in Saturday's back final by Jacob Pebley All information is anonymous. This helps us to improve the way the Website works. These cookies allow us to deliver tailor-made advertisements to you on third party websites based on your interests in our products and services manifested during your visit on our Website.

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