Spring Grove swimmer makes U.S. Olympic trials final
Spring Grove's Hali Flickinger, 21, moved one step closer to earning a spot on the U.S. Olympic swim team on Sunday.
A member of the University of Georgia's national championship team this past season, Flickinger advanced to the final of the 100-meter butterfly by swimming a time of 58.81 seconds in Sunday's semifinal at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials at CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska.
The final for the event will be Monday night. The finals will be broadcast on NBC, with coverage starting at 8 p.m. The trials are being livestreamed on NBCSports.com/Live.
The Rio 2016 Olympics begin Aug. 5 and run through Aug. 21 with swimming events scheduled from Aug. 6-13 at Olympics Aquatics Stadium at Barra Olympic Park.
It's Flickinger's second trip to the trials, but the first time she has reached a final. She qualified for five events as a 17-year-old swimming for the York YMCA in 2012.
"What I learned from last trials is that I have to relax and my biggest goal is to have fun," Flickinger said before the trials. "If you are having fun the rest should follow.”
Only the top two racers in each event are guaranteed a spot on the 26-woman U.S. team. Flickinger, however, had given herself multiple chances to earn a spot by recording qualifying times for seven events leading up to the trials. She opted to swim in five events at the trials — 200 free, 400 free, 100 butterfly, 200 fly, 200 backstroke — including four events where she had posted top-15 seed times in the nation.
Before the trials, it appeared Flickinger's best shot at qualifying for the Olympics would come in the 200 fly, where she owned the fourth-fastest seed time in the nation, which she posted at the U.S. national championships last August.
Her finish Sunday in the 100 fly came as somewhat of a surprise. She entered that event with the 21st-fastest seed time in the nation but now has twice positioned herself among the eight fastest finishers. Her 59.24-second finish in her Sunday morning heat was the eighth fastest of the day, and she was eighth fastest in the evening semifinal for her first event of the competition.
"I am most excited to be with my teammates and this specific group one last time," said Flickinger, who is one of more than 40 athletes swimming at the Trials from the Athens Bulldog Swim Club.
"Since I just finished up my eligibility at Georgia, this is potentially the last time I will have the team feeling."
