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London 2012 day 3 prelims: Ye puts her foot down in the 200 too
At the London 2012 Olympic prelims today, China’s Shiwen Ye was head and shoulders above the rest of the field in the women’s 200 IM, looking to add that one to her 400 IM Olympic gold from Saturday. Federica Pellegrini led the field (narrowly) in the women’s 200 freestyle, and in the men’s 200 butterfly prelims, Austria’s Dinko Jukic lead in 1:54.79, Michael Phelps comfortably in 5th en route to that elusive 3rd Olympic gold medal.
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CC photo 211: A happy Magnus after winning the Tórshavn 400 Pier Swim
They call it “Ólavsøkusvimjingin”, the 400 meter swim along the main pier of Tórshavn, right after the traditional boat races on our national holiday Ólavsøka. Me and Bartal had planned to film it in a relay fashion, one guy filming while the other moved to a new position along the route. Turned out to be an intense run through spectators, rain and large puddles, following this guy Magnus while trying not to become a part of the swim ourselves. Winner time Magnus Jákupsson, 4:43.0, here receiving a special prize for all his accomplishments at the European Juniors and Danish Championships this summer. Video will be ready later.
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Apathetic ‘Olympic family’ ignite empty seat scandal at London 2012
The Olympic Games has its first scandal: hundreds of embarrasing empty seats at events which were officially sold out, including the swimming heats. Seats reserved for members of the ‘Olympic family’ – including internationals federations, national governing bodies, athletes, IOC officials and media representatives. There are swimmers competing whose parents couldn’t get in, shame on the IOC.
100’s of empty seats again in the Aquatic center. My parents would’ve given an arm and leg to get in yesterday as would the parents today.
— Barry Murphy (@Barry_J_Murphy) July 29, 2012
Read for instance The Week, The Telegraph, The Chicago Tribune, The Huffington Post, Reuters
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London 2012 day 2 prelims: Seebohm posts OR in the 100 back
On this second day of London 2012 Olympic prelims, Australia’s Emily Seebohm posted a new Olympic record of 58.23 in the women’s 100 backstroke, USA’s hot favorite Missy Franklin 2nd in 59.37. Sun Yang looked invincible in the men’s 200 freestyle, beating USA’s Ryan Lochte in the 5th heat with a 1:46.24 to Lochte’s 1:46.45. Lithuania’s 15-year-old Ruta Meilutyte posted a scorching 1:05.56 in the women’s 100 breaststroke, an Olympic textile best they say. America’s Matt Grevers looked unbeatable in the men’s 100 backstroke, posting the only sub-53 time before helping his team to the 4×100 freestyle final. France’s Camille Muffat led the women’s 400 freestyle with a time of 4:03.29 ahead of USA’s Allison Schmitt in 4:03.31, Pellegrini and Adlington struggling in 7th and 8th. And in the men’s 4×100 freestyle, Australia led as expected with a “weapons of mass destruction” time of 3:12.29, Brazil making a huge blunder by not having Cielo help them into the final, instead ending up 9th.
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London 2012 day 1 finals: Ye posts first WR at these Olympics
On the first night of the London 2012 Olympics, China’s Shiwen Ye posted a world record of 4:28.43 in the women’s 400 IM, quite unusually by ripping the field apart in the last 100 freestyle. USA’s Elizabeth Beisel 2nd and China’s Xuanxu Li 3rd, old record was Stephanie Rice 4:29.45 from Beijing 2008, Rice now finishing in 6th. Michael Phelps didn’t make that 3rd gold medal in a row in the 400 IM, coming in 4th after Ryan Lochte in 4:05.18, Brazil’s Thiago Pereira in 4:08.86 and Japan’s Kosuke Hagino in 4:08.94. China’s Sun Yang set an Olympic record in the men’s 400 freestyle, posting 3:40.14 with reinstated Tae-hwan Park in 2nd and USA’s Peter Vanderkaay in 3rd, the world record only 7/100 away from Sun in 3:40.07. Australia won the women’s 4×100 freestyle in a new Olympic record of 3:33.15, the Netherlands in 2nd and USA in 3rd. Dana Vollmer led the field in the women’s 100 butterfly semi-finals, South Africa’s Cameron van der Burgh the men’s 100 breaststroke semi-finals with a new Olympic record of 58.83.
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CC photo #210: My kids meeting a sea swimmer on Tórshavn harbor today
We are celebrating our national holiday “Ólavsøka” this weekend, which explains the clothes. Sea swimmer is Eyðun Húsgarð, chairman of Havnar Svimjifelag (the swimming club of Tórshavn). Video will be ready later.
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London 2012 day 1 prelims: Vollmer posts OR, lots of shocks in other races
In the men’s 400 IM, medal favorite Laszlo Cseh missed the final with 7/100 of a second, Michael Phelps just scraping by in 8th spot. In the women’s 100 butterfly, USA’s Dana Vollmer posted an Olympic Record of 56.25. In the men’s 400 freestyle, Tae-hwan Park posted a confident time of 3:46.68 but was disqualified, Sun Yang posting 3:45.07 while medal favorite Paul Biedermann failed to reach the final in 3:48.50 and 12th, our guy Pál Joensen just outside the final in 3:47.36 and 9th. The women’s 400 IM went more as expected with medal favorites Elizabeth Beisel, Shiwen Ye, Katinka Hosszu, Mireia Belmonte Garcia, Hannah Miley etc safely through to the final. The men’s 100 breaststroke similarly with Sprenger and Kitajima on top, both Brazilian Felipes Silva and Lima also just reaching the final in 15th and 16th. And in the women’s 4×100 freestyle prelims, I guess it went more or less as expected, Germany, Russia and Italy probably kicking themselves for not making the final. The stage is set for an exciting final session tonight, Phelps and Kitajima both ready to go for that historical third Olympic gold medal in the same event.
