York-area teen reaches US Olympic Trials final
It all came down to time.
York YMCA swimmer Meghan Small had been pegged as a possible contender for the 200-meter individual medley even before the U.S. Olympic Team Trials began this week in Omaha, Neb. She had the sixth-fastest seed time in the nation. She had competed at the international level, winning a silver medal at the Pan American Games. But she needed to come through yet again in a 200 IM semifinal Tuesday. The 18-year-old and recent high school graduate needed to post a top-eight time to reach the final in her best event.
Before the trials, she admitted she wasn't thinking about her competitors. Instead, she had a number. She wanted to drop a second off her personal best and finish in 2 minutes, 10 seconds.
"If I could do that ... that would be great," Small said before departing for the Trials.
Small will have one more chance to lower her time to "great" levels, after posting the seventh-fastest time in Tuesday's semifinal (2:13.00) to qualify for the 200 IM final Wednesday night. The Trials will be broadcast at 8 p.m. on NBC. In order to qualify for the Olympic team, Small would need to place in the top two in the final.
Despite her impressive seed time, Small did not have the best morning in preliminaries. She posted the 13th-fastest time in the event, but she trailed only 2012 bronze medalist Caitlin Leverenz at the halfway point of their race. Small coasted home in 2:15.22 to crack the top 16 and reach the semifinals.
Small, who lives just over the state border in Lineboro, Maryland, will typically drive all back roads — about a 35-minute commute — to train in York. An admitted late-bloomer, who only came to the York Y at age 12, Small was named the nation's top high school recruit by online swimming services and committed to the University of Tennessee in September. A recent graduate of Manchester Valley High (Md.), the 200 IM is just one of four events she will race at the Trials. Small will return to the pool to swim in the 200 breaststroke and 200 backstroke.
Another former York YMCA swimmer could not make the finals cut in yet another event. Spring Grove's Hali Flickinger, who just finished her senior season at the University of Georgia, needed to crack the top eight in the 200 freestyle to reach her second final of the U.S. Trials. She fell short, posting the 12th-fastest time (1:58.91) in the 200 free.
Flickinger had a better time in Tuesday morning preliminaries. She tied Missy Franklin for the seventh-fastest time in preliminaries with a time of 1:58.61.
Next up for Flickinger will be her best event, one of four she will swim at the Trials. Flickinger, and West York High School senior Courtney Harnish will race in the 200 butterfly preliminaries Wednesday morning, with the possibility of both reaching the semifinals later in the day. Flickinger entered the Trials with the fourth-fastest time in the nation in the 200 fly. Harnish, 17, has the 20th-fastest seed time.