2012 London Olympics: Dana Vollmer Cruises to 100 Fly Top Seed

Full wall-to-wall coverage, including photo galleries, athlete interviews, recaps and columns are available at the Event Landing Page

LONDON, England, July 28. DANA Vollmer, who set an Olympic, American and textile best in prelims of the women's 100-meter butterfly this morning, kept a bit more in the tank during semis at the 2012 London Olympics.

Vollmer, who led the way this morning with a sterling time of 56.25, checked in with a 56.36. That time still stands as the fifth-fastest time ever in the event's history. She will be looking to return the crown to American soil for the first time since Amy van Dyken clipped Liu Limin, 59.13 to 59.14, in the closest swim in this event's Olympic history back in 1996. The U.S. has a strong history of victory in the event, with the most golds with five. Shelley Mann (1956), Carolyn Schuler (1960), Sharon Stouder (1964), Mary T. Meagher (1984) and van Dyken (1996) have also triumphed for the Stars and Stripes.

Australia's Alicia Coutts posted a 56.85 to move to eighth in the all-time rankings. She's looking to protect recent history for Australia, as the squad from Down Under has three golds, including two straight from Petria Thomas and Libby Trickett.

Denmark's Jeanette Ottesen Gray rounded out the top three with a 57.25, and is shooting to become the first person from her country to medal in the event. Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom, the world-record holder with a 56.06 from the techsuit era, qualified fourth in 57.27, while USA's Claire Donahue (57.42), China's Lu Ying (57.51), Great Britain's Ellen Gandy (57.66) and Italy's Ilaria Bianchi (57.79) earned the rest of the finals spots.

You can download, read, and save this special issue by clicking here.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x