June 27, 2012

OMAHA, Neb. — South Carolina junior Michael Flach wrapped up one of the best efforts of his career on Wednesday night with a sixth-place finish in the semifinals of the 200 butterfly at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials as he earned one of eight spots in Thursday night’s finals.

Swimming next to 14-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps, Flach turned in a personal record of 1:58.04 to give himself a chance to compete for one of two spots up for grabs on the U.S. Olympic Team in the finals. He is trying to become the first Gamecock swimmer to make the U.S. Team.

As he did in the preliminaries early on Wednesday, Flach finished the race strong, moving from sixth to fourth in the final 100 meters.

“Everything Michael needed to do right not only did he do it right but he did it perfectly,” South Carolina head coach McGee Moody said. “We are going to watch the film of his race, analyze it and break it down to see what we need to do for tomorrow night. Right now we are just going to sit back and enjoy this because for the first time in a long, long time, we’ve got somebody that’s really, really close to an Olympic dream. We are going to do the best we can.”

The finals are scheduled to begin at approximately 7:12 p.m. CT on Thursday with live coverage on NBC.

Thursday is another busy day for Carolina in the preliminaries with four swimmers slated to get in the pool. Former Gamecock Kyle Cormier will swim in the 100 freestyle, while rising sophomore Alex Vance will compete in the 200 breaststroke. On the women’s side, Annika Jonsson and Whitney Avers are scheduled to swim in the 200 butterfly.

Preliminaries will get underway at 10 a.m. CT. Live results for each event and live video of all but the fastest preliminary heats will be available by clicking here. NBC and the NBC Sports Network will also provide live and same-day video of the heats and finals.

Wednesday, June 27
2012 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials
Omaha, Neb. – CenturyLink Center
Day 3 Finals Results
Men’s 200 Butterfly
6. Michael Flach 1:58.04 (PR, advances to finals)