Michael Phelps wins Men’s 100m freestyle heats: Day three – 2012 Columbus Grand Prix
North Baltimore’s Michael Phelps won the preliminary rounds of Men’s 100m freestyle on third day of the 2012 Columbus Grand Prix at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion on Sunday, March 11.
The Columbus Grand Prix is the fourth stop of the seven-stage 2011-12 USA Swimming Grand Prix Series. With the upcoming 2012 London Olympic Games, the Grand Prix is of considerable importance as it provides a chance to all swimmers to find out their deficiencies.
The 26-year-old Phelps overwhelmed his opponents by posting a top qualifying time of 49.92 seconds. With his alluring effort, he remained just 0.01 seconds ahead of Tucson Ford Deal’s duo of Darian Townsend and Nicol Oliveira, who made their way to into
the playoff as second best finishers by touching the wall in a same time of 49.93 seconds.
The fourth qualification spot of the event was obtained by Dimitri Colupaev of Una Troj-CA, who was just 0.12 seconds behind the pair of his second best finishers and transpired on the finishing end with the timing of 50.05 seconds.
After a while, the audience experienced forceful efforts of California Aquatics’ Natalie Coughlin, who upset her competitors in the Women’s 100m freestyle.
The 29-year-old Coughlin showed no mercy to her challengers and completed her double lap swim in a time of 55.74 seconds. She was chased by Zsuzsanna Jakabos of Hungary, who stayed 0.09 seconds slower and surfaced on the finishing end as second best swimmer
with the timing of 55.83 seconds.
Subsequently, Kate E Dwelley of Stanford Swimming remained 0.12 seconds slower from her preceding swimmer and tapped the finishing end with the timing of 55.95 seconds for third best qualification. The 23-year-old Dwelley was followed by Michelle Williams
of OSU-OH, who remained just 0.15 seconds behind and reported 56.10 seconds for fourth position.
Furthermore, the crowd acknowledged breath-taking performances of all participants in their respective prelims while the session concluded after the completion of all planned events. In addition, these contestants will compete with each other in their respective
playoffs, where they will try to prove their mettle for top spot on the medal rostrum.
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