WELTZ, ADAMS QUALIFY FOR FIRST OLYMPIC TEAM

6/29/2012

OMAHA, Neb. – Scott Weltz, Clark Burckle and Cammile Adams qualified for their first Olympic Team in front of a sell-out crowd of 14,103 people Friday at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials.

Weltz and Burckle made the team by virtue of their 1-2 finish in the men’s 200m breaststroke, touching in 2:09.01 and 2:09.97. Adams won the women’s 200m butterfly with a Trials meet record time of 2:06.52. Finishing second behind Adams was Kathleen Hersey, who punched her ticket to London in 2:07.72.

Also making the team on the fifth night of finals at the CenturyLink Center were Nathan Adrian and Cullen Jones, who finished 1-2 in the men’s 100m freestyle in 48.10 and 48.46. They will be swimming both the 100m free and the 400m free relay in London. Also qualifying for the 400 free relay were Matt Grevers and Ricky Berens, both of whom were named to the team earlier in the week in the 100m back and 800m free relay, respectively.

Second-place finishers in a number of events from earlier in the week were officially named to the team Friday, including Eric Shanteau (100m breaststroke), Nick Thoman (100m backstroke), Tyler Clary (200 butterfly), Claire Donahue (100m butterfly), Chloe Sutton (400m freestyle), Rachel Bootsma (100m backstroke), Rebecca Soni (100m breaststroke) and Ariana Kukors (200m IM). From this point on, all second-place finishers in each event will qualify for the team.

Men’s 200m Breaststroke
Turning to the races, most eyes were on American-record holder Eric Shanteau and Brendan Hansen heading into tonight’s finals of the men’s 200m breaststroke. These veterans are the top two Americans of all time in this event, and at the 2008 Trials, Shanteau out-touched Hansen for the second spot on the team in the 200 breast finals.
However, Weltz and Burckle crashed that storyline.

A different swimmer took the lead for each length of the race. Hansen was out first at the 50 under American-record pace, only to have Burckle take a slight, 12-hundredth-of-a-second lead at the halfway point. Shanteau then moved up in front of the pack at the third and final turn. Then, as the swimmers made their way down the homestretch, Weltz surged ahead for the win by almost a second over Burckle. Shanteau was third in 2:10.05, while Hansen finished fourth in 2:10.25.

Weltz’s time was the fifth-fastest in the world this year.

“Before the race, my whole body was kind of tingling,” Weltz said. “It just felt different. I just thought, ‘It’s time.’”
Women’s 200m Butterfly

Adams had a similar race in the women’s 200m butterfly, slowly moving up on the field as the race progressed then driving it home in the final 50 meters. Hersey, who had led for much of the race, hung on for the second-place finish.

Adams’ time was the sixth-fastest in the world this year.

“(My coach) is big about swimming your own race, doing your own thing and taking it out where I feel good,” Adams said. “That’s what I did. I like bringing it home, so I wanted to keep things exciting.

“I can’t even put it into words. I am so blessed for this experience and to be a part of Team USA. I think I made five Junior Teams, and you get to a point where you say, ‘I am never going to make a National Team.’ This will be my first one.”

Hersey was complimentary of Adams after the race.

“My goal going into it was to get my hands on the wall first or second, and I gave myself a way to do that,” Hersey said. “This was not a smart race, but when you get yourself in a nervous state, it’s hard to get out. All the breathing exercises I do and all the yoga I do only help to a certain point.

“I’m so grateful to have another opportunity to represent the USA in such an honorable manner and with such a great girl next to me. I couldn’t be more thankful for the personalities in the 200 fly. We have a great group going.”

Men’s 100 Free
In the men’s 100m free, Adrian led from start to finish, followed by some outside smoke from Cullen Jones in lane 1. Jones looked to be fading in the final 10 meters, but managed to hold off Grevers, who finished third in 48.55. Berens was fourth in 48.80, followed by Jimmy Feigen in 48.84 and Jason Lezak in 48.88. Both Lezak and Feigen will likely be added to the team pending swimmers qualifying in multiple events.

“It was a deep field,” Adrian said. “I was just happy to be in the middle with a couple sprinters who would go out with me. I think it could be faster, but at this point to put a numeric value on it would mean nothing.”

Lezak qualified ninth in yesterday’s semifinals, but was given another chance to swim when Ryan Lochte scratched to concentrate on the 200m backstroke and 200m IM.

“Fortunately, I could get in there and get another opportunity,” Lezak said. “I was nervous. There’s no doubt. It was a big race for me. I trained four years for this, real hard. Nobody knows how hard it’s been for me except my wife and I. It’s a pretty good accomplishment to get in there. Even though it’s sixth place, I still made the team. Hopefully I can be a team leader and help these guys swim fast.”

Semifinals
Semifinals were contested in four events Friday – the women’s 100m freestyle, the men’s 200m backstroke, the women’s 200m butterfly and the men’s 200m IM. The top eight swimmers from each of those semifinals will compete in tomorrow night’s finals.

Top seeds in tomorrow night’s finals are: Amanda Weir in the women’s 100m free (54.14), Ryan Lochte in the men’s 200m back (1:55.73) and the men’s 200m IM (1:55.51), and Rebecca Soni in the women’s 200m breast (2:21.45 – Olympic Trials record).

For more information about the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, including complete results, go to www.usaswimming.org/trials. Also, follow all the action from Trials on your mobile device with DeckPass Plus, available now for your iPad, iPhone or Android.