Webster at Olympic Team Qualifiers
6/25/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
Webster met Olympic trial qualifying standards in three different events, the 400-meter individual medley, the 400-meter freestyle and the 200-meter individual medley, and competed in qualifying heats in the 400-IM and 400-freestyle on the first day of the team qualifier.
He is the second student-athlete in team history to compete at the U.S. Olympic Team Qualifier; Peter Economou was the first to do so in 2000.
His showing in the 400-individual medley was especially impressive, with Webster winning his heat and finishing 25th overall in a field of 113 of the world's top athletes. He posted a personal record time of 4:24.84, shaving 0.63 off his qualifying time of 4:25.47.
Webster, who entered Monday's preliminary ranked 43rd in the psych sheet, finished 14.18 behind top qualifier Ryan Lochte and just 5.51 off the pace of Robert Margolis, who grabbed the final of eight spots for Monday evening's final.
Later Monday afternoon Webster competed in the 400-yard freestyle qualifier, finishing 93rd overall with a time of 4:03.48, a few seconds off his qualifying mark of 3:58.10.
Even though he did not advance in either event on Monday, Webster will take another shot at Olympic qualifying when he swims in the 200-yard individual medley preliminaries on Friday, June 29. The Olympic Team Trials run through Monday, July 2.
Webster, who was named the 2011 BIG EAST Championship Most Outstanding Swimmer, won the conference championship in the 400-yard individual medley and the 200-yard backstroke, qualifying to compete at the 2011 NCAA Championships in the 400-IM, 200-backstroke and 500-freestyle. He also won the 2010 BIG EAST Championship in the 200-yard backstroke.
