Danish newspaper Politiken has this article on Mathias Gydesen’s situation now after missing out on an Olympic qualification with only 1 hundredth of a second, when he at the Indianapolis Grand Prix last weekend broke the Danish and Nordic record in the men’s 100 backstroke with a time of 54.41, the FINA A cut being 54.40.
He’s asked the Danish swimming federation to let him qualify anyway, preferably without having to try again at the Debrecen 2012 Europeans in May, and the High Performance Manager at the Danish Swimming Federation, Lars Sørensen doesn’t sound completely dismissive. One of the problems is though, that Gydesen’s time of 54.41 was set during prelims, where the rules at the Danish Trials stated specifically that you had to make your qualifying time in the finals. Gydesen got a dispensation to try and qualify at the Indy Grand Prix rather than the Danish Trials.
“Together with Olympic chief Jesper Frigast and Team Denmark, we must evaluate his performance. It could be an Olympic selection since he was so close, or we could choose to give Mathias a new chance at the European Championships in May. To the the assessment will be included, that he swam slower in the final, “said Lars Soerensen.
