Aug. 10, 2008
BEIJING, China - Eight current, former and future Auburn swimmers competed in preliminary action Sunday morning at the 2008 Olympics, posting some of the fastest times ever in their respective events.
First up was Kirsty Coventry (Zimbabwe) in the 100m backstroke as she won the preliminary with an Olympic-record time of 59.00. The time is a personal best and ranks second all-time in the event. She will occupy lane four in the second heat of the 100m back semifinal tonight.
Also advancing in the 100m back was American Margaret Hoelzer as she finished third in her heat, seventh overall, with a time of 1:00.13. She will swim two lanes over from her former teammate in tonight's semifinal as she will occupy lane six in the second heat.
Rising junior Alana Dillette (Bahamas) also competed in the 100m back. She clocked a time of 1:02.56, almost a half second faster than her personal best, to finish fourth in her heat, 32nd overall in the event.
Next up was incoming freshman Stephanie Horner of Canada in the 400m freestyle. She touched in with a 4:07.45, almost three seconds faster than her seed time, but came up short on a finals appearance as she finished 11th overall.
Italy's Federica Pellegrini posted the top time of the preliminary, coming in with an Olympic-record 4:02.19. It took a time of 4:04.93 to make the final.
Rounding out the session was the men's 400m freestyle relay, an event that featured four Auburn swimmers competing for four different nations.
Former Tiger Fred Bousquet led France to a second-place finish in the preliminary after posting a 46.63 anchor split - the fastest split in the race. France clocked a time of 3:12.36 to set a new European record and actually came in under the old world record time of 3:12.46. The United States set a new world record in the preliminary as the Americans won with a time of 3:12.23.
Right behind France was Australia, led by senior Matt Targett and his 47.22 anchor split. The Aussies finished with a time of 3:12.41, also under the old world record, to earn the third seed for tonight's final.
Incoming freshman Adam Brown helped Great Britain earn the eighth and final spot in the finals as he swam the second leg of the British relay that came in with a time of 3:13.69. Brown touched in with a 48.43 split in the No. 2 position.
Also qualifying for the final was the South African team, posting an African record time of 3:13.06 for sixth place. Incoming freshman Gideon Louw is part of the South African relay pool, but did not compete in the preliminary. Lineups for the finals have not been announced yet, but Louw is expected to compete for South Africa.
One disappointing point of the 400m free relay came in the Brazilian relay team. Auburn's Cesar Cielo led off the team with a time of 47.91, a time that ranks eighth all-time in the 100m freestyle. But, the Brazil was in second following Cielo's leg, but the team quickly fell to sixth place in its heat and was eventually disqualified as Nicolas Oliveira left too early on the anchor.
In tonight's final, France will occupy lane five, next to the top seed Americans, with Australia in lane three, South Africa in lane seven and Great Britain in lane eight.
Action in the finals session begins at 9:03 p.m. CT with the women's 100m backstroke semifinals, continues at 9:30 p.m. CT with Mark Gangloff in the men's 100m breaststroke final, and concludes at 10:26 p.m. CT with the men's 400m freestyle relay final.