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Spring Grove's Hali Flickinger to swim for Olympic gold


Spring Grove's Hali Flickinger will swim for Olympic gold.

Continuing her unlikely story, the York County swimmer advanced to the final of the 200-meter butterfly at the Rio Olympics by posting a time of 2 minutes, 7.02 seconds in her semifinal Tuesday night at the Olympics. She placed fourth in her semifinal to finish in the top eight to qualify for Wednesday night's final with NBC's live swimming coverage starting at 9 p.m. The 200 fly final is scheduled to start at 9:54 p.m.

Flickinger finished with the sixth-fastest time in the field.

"This is what she has dreamed of her entire life, " her father Doug Flickinger said in a Facebook message from Rio. "(Her mother) Lea and I are are so proud and happy for her. She has worked so hard to get to this point.

"We can't wait to cheer for her."

She is the first swimmer from York County to reach an Olympic final since Dallastown teenager Whitney Metzler reached the 400-meter individual medley final in 1996. No York County swimmer has won a medal since 1948, when York's Bob Sohl earned silver in the 200 breaststroke.

"I'm very proud. ... She's one of the best in the world," said her former coach at York YMCA Aquatic Club Michael Brooks, who watched the race from his home in York.

"I imagine for all eight of the women that qualified it will be the longest 24 hours of their lives, but I think the biggest pressure is on the two or three girls that qualified first. For both the Americans ... there's nothing to lose. They're in a nice position."

Australia's Madeline Groves posted the fastest 200 fly at the games (2:05.66). Spain's Mireia Belmonte Garcia (2:06.6) recorded the second-fastest time.

Flickinger's teammate, Cammile Adams, just barely reached the final, posting the eighth-fastest time to earn the last spot in the final.

A first-time Olympian, Flickinger, 22, wore a black cap with the U.S. flag and her name emblazoned across the side. Wearing a Team USA overcoat, she could be seen backstage in the call room giving a thumbs up to an individual off camera. She sat down and immediately began slapping her right thigh. Then she appeared to calm down, sitting with her hands clasped. For several minutes, only her right foot moved, tapping quickly on the floor.

"I just have to do what I always do, take deep breaths," Flickinger told USA Today about swimming in the final. "It’s just another ‘2’ fly. It’s no different. It’s still a 50-meter pool.  Same length. Just got to do what I always do.”

About 10 hours after an impressive preliminary swim, Flickinger came back in the semifinal Tuesday night looking "nervous" according to Brooks.

"It was interesting because this morning in the prelims, it was a perfect race except maybe for the finish where she seemed to glide too far. But she looked so relaxed and comfortable," Brooks said.

"Tonight she looked a little more nervous, the stroke wasn't as easy and smooth. ... Usually a coach can tell."

But he expected to see Flickinger relax in the final, after all the hard work has already been completed.

• • •

Flickinger grew up in the water.

One grandparent had a pool, another went to a club where Flickinger had access to a pool.

Hali's mother, Lea Flickinger, joked, her two children were water babies.

"In the pool ever since they were infants," Lea Flickinger said about Hali and son Chase Flickinger, a sophomore midfielder on the Millersville University soccer team.

But there was more to it than that, Flickinger wanted to win — all the time.

"She got beat one time and said, 'Why are these girls starting to beat me that I beat before?'" her father Doug Flickinger recalled during a July interview in York.

At the time, Flickinger swam for the Spring Grove youth program. She was 11.

Her father pointed out the bigger clubs had more practices and went to more meets.

So at their daughter's urging, the family went to find a bigger club.

They looked at North Baltimore Aquatic Club, where seven Olympic medalist had trained, including Michael Phelps, but then they heard about Brooks, a former NBAC coach joining the York YMCA Aquatic Club.

"Hey this might work out all right," Doug Flickinger recalled thinking. "As tough as Michael was, Hali loved it. Loved how he pushed her, loved how he believed her."

Lea Flickinger recalled the transition to practicing five days a week, then six days a week — with some two-a-day practices thrown in.

"As long as she wanted to do it, we were willing to do it," Lea Flickinger said. "She's never not wanted to come to practice."

• • •

Flickinger threw down the gauntlet Tuesday morning, tying Adams for the second-fastest time (2:06.67) in preliminaries. Flickinger placed second in her heat, the fourth and final preliminary for the event. She finished behind Belmonte Garcia, who already has won a bronze medal in Rio in the 400 individual medley. Flickinger took the lead after the second turn, and Belmonte Garcia needed an impressive final 50 meters to edge Flickinger at the wall and post the fastest time (2:06.64) in the opening heats.

Belmonte Garcia, who won silver in this event at the London Olympics, is expected to contend for gold, with her preliminary time not even matching her fastest swim of the season.

Yet, it was a career-best performance for Flickinger, who entered the games with the 13th-fastest qualifying time in the world.

On the NBC live feed, Flickinger's family could be seen in the stands, standing and waving miniature U.S.A. flags after the second-place showing.

In an unexpected move and what could figure huge in the 200 butterfly, gold medal contender Katinka Hosszú from Hungary scratched from her preliminary race. Her exit allowed Adams, a two-time Olympian and one of three U.S. women team captains, to easily win her preliminary heat, dropping her jaw in reaction to her time.

More importantly, Hosszú's exit could create an easier path to the podium for one of the two U.S. swimmers.

David Woods from the USA Today Network contributed to this story.​