University of Tennessee Athletics
Magnuson Reaches Semifinals in 50m Butterfly at World Championships
July 31, 2009 | Women's Swimming & Diving
July 31, 2009
ROME - Former Tennessee star Christine Magnuson finished 15th in the semifinal heats of the 50m fly and Lady Vol assistant coach Davis Tarwater helped the men's 4x200m relay qualify first for the finals on Friday at the FINA World Championships.
Magnuson qualified ninth in the 50m fly (26.06) prelims on Friday morning at the Foro Italico. She finished 15th in the semifinal heats in 26.21 in the afternoon. Sweden's Therese Alshammar qualified first for the finals with a world-record time of 25.07.
The Tinley Parki. Ill., native will likely compete on the U.S. 4x100m medley relay on Saturday. She won a silver medal as a member of that relay at the Beijing Olympics.
Earlier this month, Magnuson won her second consecutive 100m fly national title at the ConcoPhillips USA National Championships.
She owns the American record in the 100m fly after clocking a 57.08 swim in the semifinals at Beijing. She followed her American record performance by swimming a 57.10 in the finals to claim the silver medal.
Tarwater swam the third leg on the men's 4 x 200m free relay that qualified first for the finals in 7:03.30 during Friday morning's prelims. He was replaced in the finals as a quartet led by Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte set a world-record in the event (6:58.55) en route to victory in the afternoon.
