Olympians Gary Hall Jr. (Miami Beach, Fla.) and Gabe Woodward (Bakersfield, Calif.) turned in strong performances in the men’s 50m free to advance to Saturday’s semifinal. Woodward finished second overall in 22.75 while Hall finished fourth in 22.85. Hall won the 50m free bronze medal at the Pan American Games in 2003 but has yet to win individual Pan Am gold.
Notes from Friday’s preliminaries:
Women’s 100m free:
Lauren Thies (Portland, Ore.) topped the women’s 100m free to qualify as the top seed for Saturday’s semifinal. Thies, who led throughout the race, qualified in 56.53. Team USA’s Michele King (York, Pa.) qualified seventh in 57.68.Women's 200m breast:
Hehn and Caitlin Leverenz (Tucson, Ariz.) advanced to the semifinals in the women’s 200m breast, claiming the event’s top two qualifying spots. Hehn topped her heat and broke a Pan American Games record with her time of 2:26.72. Leverenz also topped her heat and qualified second in 2:26.98. The third best time of the night came from Mexico’s Adriana Marmolejo Vargas and was over seven seconds behind Hehn and Leverenz.Men’s 50m free:
Hall and Woodward both qualified for Saturday’s 50m free semifinal, turning in strong performances against a talented field of competitors. The two Americans in the event will be challenged by Brazil’s Nicholas Santos, who broke a Pan American Games record with his 22.20 swim Friday night. Woodward qualified as the second seed in 22.75 while Hall qualified fourth in 22.85.Women’s 200m back:
Crippen led the field in the women’s 200m back, breaking a Pan American Games record with her time of 2:12.35, while Team USA’s Julia Smit (Mt. Sinai, N.Y.) qualified as the third seed in 2:15.90. Crippen won silver in the women’s 400m IM and gold in the 800m free relay, and Smith has won gold in the 100m back, 200m IM, and 400m free relay.Men’s 100m back:
Peter Marshall (Atlanta, Ga.) topped the men’s 100m back prelims in 55.09, while Randall Bal (Fair Oaks, Calif.) had the third fastest time of the night with a time of 56.31. Marshall and Bal will swim again in Saturday’s semifinal.Women’s 400m medley relay:
Team USA qualified second in the women’s 400m relay, turning in a time of 4:12.62. Brielle White (Charlottesville, N.C.) swam backstroke, Michelle McKeehan (Greenwood, Ind.) swam breast, Kathleen Hersey (Atlanta, Ga.) swam fly, and Maritza Correia (Valrico, Fla.) swam free. Team Canada finished just four tenths ahead of Team USA and both teams will battle for gold in Sunday’s final.Men’s 400m medley relay:
The men’s 400m medley relay team also finished behind Team Canada in the prelims in 3:42.14. Marshall swam back, Christian Schurr (Austin, Tex.) swam breast, Pat O’Neil (Roseburg, Ore.) swam fly, and Alex Righi (Phoenix, Ariz.) swam free.Competition continues at 10 a.m. local time Saturday morning and medals will be awarded in the men’s 1500m free, 200m breast, and 200m fly, and the women’s 200m fly.
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