June 29, 2012
OMAHA, Neb. - Penn State men's swimming standout Nate Savoy (Reading, Pa.) qualified for Friday night's semifinals in the 200 backstroke at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Savoy won his heat in a time of 2:00.15 to finish seventh overall of 107 swimmers. After scratches, Savoy will be seeded sixth tonight. NBC will carry the swimming trials live beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET from CenturyLink Center in Omaha.
Savoy advances to the semifinals with a chance to make the U.S. Olympic Team. The top eight from the semifinals advance to the finals where the top two earn Olympic spots in London. Savoy went out in 27.74 for his opening 50 meters and posted splits of 30.05, 31.07 and closed in 31.29 to wrap up the heat victory.
Savoy won Heat 7 by a half-second over Alexander Katz (2:00.66). Next to Ryan Murphy, who finished fourth in 1:59.03), Savoy is the youngest semifinal qualifier in the top eight. Gold medalist Ryan Lochte earned top honors swimming 1:57.24 for the top seed entering tonight.
Savoy is the second Penn State swimmer to reach the semifinals in the last three days as Merritt Krawczyk (Kingwood, Texas) earned the 16 seed in the women's 200 IM on Wednesday.
--NITTANY LIONS--