Liebhold's Trials run ends with fourth-place finish
July 04, 2008 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Former University of Wisconsin All-American Tim Liebhold concluded a spectacular run through the men's 200-meter individual medley competition at the U.S. Olympic Trials by narrowly missing a spot on the U.S. Olympic team with a fourth-place finish Friday in the event finals.
Liebhold clocked a career-best time of 2:00.06 in a world-class race that saw winner Michael Phelps set a new world record of 1:54.80. Ryan Lochte secured the other spot on the U.S. team for Beijing in the event with a runner-up finish in 1:55.22.
Liebhold was sixth after the race's first 150 meters but clocked the third-fastest split over the final 50 meters, trailing only Phelps and Lochte in the sprint to the finish. He covered the final lap of the Qwest Center pool in 28.29 seconds.
Liebhold, a four-time All-American during his career at Wisconsin, swam his way into the finals during Thursday's evening session with a sixth-place finish in the event 's semifinals, clocking in at 2:00.93. He finished strong in that race, as well, closing with the fastest split of any competitor over the final 50 meters at 28.22.
Also Friday, former Badger Matt Marshall qualified for the semifinals of the men 's 100 butterfly with a time of 53.13 that was good for the 12th-fastest time of the preliminary race. The top 16 times advanced to the semis, led by Ian Crocker's top mark of 51.52.
Marshall then took 13th in the semifinals during Friday's evening session, finishing in 53.40 but missing out on a spot in Saturday's finals for the event. Phelps laid down the top qualifying time for the finals with his swim of 51.10 in the semis.
Four current and former Badgers competed in the prelims of the men's 50 freestyle, but none were able to move on to semifinal competition. Matt Marshall, who owns the UW school record in the event, was 30th in the prelims with a time of 22.87 to lead the way for the Badger contingent. Kyle Sorensen clocked in at 23.03 to take the 38th spot, while UW grad Dale Rogers ended up 42nd overall with a time of 23.03. Phil Davies was 64th-fastest in 23.28.
In the women's 800-meter freestyle, junior-to-be Gabby Maddalena posted the No. 52 time with a clocking of 9:04.46. Also, junior-to-be Candice Peak competed in the prelims of the women's 200 backstroke, finishing with the 90th-fastest time after a swim of 2:20.43. Elizabeth Beisel posted the top time in 2:07.44.
The Olympic Trials continue Saturday, with three Badger swimmers competing in the prelims of the women's 50 freestyle. Recent UW graduate Jackie Vavrek enters the race seeded 10th.
Complete results are available at www.usaswimming.org .
