Spring Grove swimmer has shot at Rio Olympics berth
Hali Flickinger finishes with 2nd-fastest time in 200-meter butterfly semifinals, will compete in Thursday's final
University of Georgia swimmer and Spring Grove graduate Hali Flickinger will once again swim for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team.
Flickinger qualified for the final of the 200-meter butterfly by posting the second-fastest time in the semifinals Wednesday at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Omaha, Nebraska. It marks the second time Flickinger, 21, has advanced to a final at this year's Trials. She placed eighth in the 100 fly earlier this week.
Flickinger's finish Wednesday sends her to Thursday night's final, where the top-two finishers will earn spots on the team headed to the Rio Olympics. Thursday's final will be broadcast on NBC.
Flickinger finished in 2 minutes, 7.09 seconds. Only 2012 Olympian and butterfly specialist Cammile Adams (2:07.31) had a faster time. The final should be a competitive race with 16-year-old Cassidy Bayer (2:07.97), an Alexandria, Virginia native, expected to challenge for one of the top two spots.
For Flickinger, the Trials have been the accumulation of about a decade spent in top-level swimming. A 2012 Spring Grove graduate, Flickinger went to her first international meet in Montreal with the York YMCA in 2010. She also headed to international meets in Russia and Germany in 2011 during her senior year in high school. As a 17-year-old recent high school graduate, she raced in five events at her first U.S. Olympic Trials.
She also had almost an immediate impact at Georgia, swimming for national championship teams in 2013, 2014 and 2016. She placed 13th in the nation in the 200-yard fly her freshman year, earning All-American Honorable Mention honors in her first season.
"They did a great job of preparing Hali for the rigors of college swimming," legendary Georgia coach Jack Bauerle told the York Daily Record in 2012.
Flickinger sent herself up well by recording the second-fastest time (2:09.20) in preliminary heats. Only Adams (2:08.29) had a better preliminary time, but Adams also was initially disqualified by an on-deck official for an illegal turn. The disqualification was ultimately overturned and her swim and time upheld through the use of underwater cameras.
The semifinal field also includes Kelsi Worrell, who won the 100 butterfly Tuesday night as Flickinger took eighth. Worrell had the fourth-fastest finish in Wednesday 200 fly heats.
West York's Courtney Harnish, 17, also swam in the 200 fly heats, finishing 55th.
