Streamlined News: March 7, 2012


PHOENIX, Arizona, March 7. THE biggest news to come out of yesterday's finals at the British Olympic Trials was Michael Rock's inability to qualify for the Olympic team in the men's 200 butterfly. Rock had been the country's top swimmer in the event for a few years, and has the national record, but last night he faced a couple of swimmers who had already qualified for the Olympics earlier in the week. Joe Roebuck, who will also swim the 400 IM, won the 200 fly with a 1:55.94, the fastest time in the world. Roberto Pavoni, also in the 400 IM for Great Britain, placed second with a 1:56.10. Rock finished three tenths back for third, and will be looking to the 100 fly final on Friday to get on the Olympic team.

Hannah Miley added the 200 IM to her Olympic schedule, winning in 2:10.77, which is her best time in a textile suit. Miley has noted that the 400 IM is her better event, but with this time, could still be considered a medal hopeful in the shorter individual medley. Rebecca Turner surprised the crowd with a win last night in the 200 freestyle with a 1:57.65. The top four finishers all went under 1:59, setting up a decent 800 free relay for the host country.

The highlight of the guest finals last night for foreigners testing out the Olympic venue was the women's 200 fly. Otylia Jedrzejczak, the 2004 Olympic champion from Poland, raced short course world champion Mireia Belmonte of Spain for the entire race, with Belmonte taking the win in 2:07.63 to Jedrzejczak's 2:07.92. Both are strong possibilities for that final in the Olympics.

Today's finals in London include the men's 200 breast and men's 100 free, as well as the women's 200 butterfly, in which Jemma Lowe will be looking to avenge her third-place finish in the 100 fly earlier in the week. We'll bring you a recap from the meet on swimmingworld.com.

We are less than a week away from the start of the Australian Olympic Trials, and Ian Thorpe has publicly revealed that he does not expect to qualify for his third Olympic team. “The most realistic outcome of this is that I will most likely fail,” Thorpe said, adding that if he had another six months, things might be different. The 29-year-old Olympic champion will swim the 200 freestyle on March 16 and the 100 free on March 18.

Ken Stopkotte will not face trial for the charges against him of financial theft that led to his arrest in November 2010. The former Fishers Area swim coach was to defend himself against charges that he pocketed pool rental fees instead of paying the school district. A statement from Stopkotte noted that the charges were dropped yesterday because the school district submitted false and misleading information to the police. Stopkotte is still facing punishment from USA Swimming and Indiana Swimming from an unrelated incident in February 2010, in which he submitted incorrect times into the USA Swimming database. He is nearly done with the two-year ban from USA Swimming, but has about three years left on his five-year ban from Indiana Swimming.

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