University of Tennessee Athletics
#SwimTrials16: Small Takes 7th in 200 IM
June 29, 2016 | Swimming & Diving
OMAHA, Neb. — Tennessee incoming freshman Meghan Small took seventh in the 200-meter individually medley Wednesday night at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials at CenturyLink Center.
Small, a native of Lineboro, Maryland, finished in 2 minutes, 13.31 seconds in her first career Olympic final. It was .31 off her semifinal race but nearly two seconds faster than her preliminary time.
Maya DiRado of Stanford won the event in 2:09.54. She had already qualified for the Rio Games after winning the 400 IM earlier this week. Former Georgia swimmer Melanie Margalis earned the second Olympic spot with a runner-up finish in 2:10.11.
Small will start her career for Tennessee in August after an accomplished club career. She was rated as the No. 1 recruit in her signing class.
Rising sophomore Ethan Browne dropped a half second off his career-best time in the 200-meter breaststroke (2:14.33) to advance to his first semifinal at the Olympic trials. In the evening, he finished 16th overall in 2:16.05. The top eight moved on to Thursday’s final.
A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Browne placed fourth in the 200 breaststroke and ninth in the 100 breaststroke at his first SEC Championships earlier this year. He also qualified for the NCAA meet.
Prelim Roundup
In Wednesday’s morning preliminaries, rising sophomore Kyle DeCoursey won the fifth heat of the men’s 100 freestyle in a career-best time of 50.24.
In the women’s 200 butterfly, Michelle Cefal was 50th (2:15.97), Heather Lundstrom was 63rd (2:16.93) and Patricia Forrester was 93rd (2:21.54).
Brad Craig was 25th in the men’s 200 breaststroke in 2:16.25.
Thursday’s Events
Thursday’s preliminary session starts at 11 a.m. Eastern, 10 a.m. Central. Events include: women’s 100 freestyle, men’s 200 backstroke, women’s 200 breaststroke and men’s 200 IM. Molly Hannis, who was third overall in the 100 breaststroke, will be back in action in the 200 breaststroke. Sean Lehane, who was seventh in the 100 backstroke begins competition in the 200 backstroke, traditionally his stronger event.
