Prenot Advances in 200 IM

Santa Maria Swim Club swimmers Joshua Prenot qualified for the semifinals in the 200-meter individual medley at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Omaha, Neb.

Prenot’s time of 2 minutes, 2.58 seconds earned him 13th place after prelims. The top 16 swimmers advance to semifinals, which will be held tonight and aired on NBC at 8 pm PDT. Prenot will be in heat two, lane one.

Prenot moved up a couple of spots, as he was seeded 18th before prelims.

Prenot Swims Semifinal

Santa Maria Swim Club swimmer Joshua Prenot competed in the semifinal of the 200-meter breaststroke Thursday night at that U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Omaha, Neb.

Prenot finished in a lifetime best time of 2 minutes, 12.21 seconds. The mark set a National Age Group record for 17-18 boy’s.

The 18-year-old UC Berkeley freshman-to-be missed making finals by 21 one-hundredths of a second. He finished 10th, but only the top eight advance to the finals.

The top time of the semifinals was posted by Clark Burckle. He finished the race in 2:10.01.

Prenot will next swim the 200-meter individual medley on Friday, the fifth and final event he will compete in at the Trials. He is seeded 18th with a time of 2:02.24.

For results from the Trials, click here.

Prenot and Stevens Hit the Water Again

Santa Maria Swim Club swimmer Joshua Prenot and Puma Aquatics swimmer Zachary Stevens competed in the 200-meter breaststroke today at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Omaha, Neb.

Prenot finished in a lifetime best 2 minutes, 13.00 seconds. He placed ninth in the preliminary session, which means he will advance to the semifinal round for the event (the top 16 advance). The 18-year-old UC Berkeley freshman-to-be will be in the second semifinal heat tonight and will be in lane two.

In the lane next to Prenot (three) will be Brendan Hansen, who won the bronze medal in the 20-meter breaststroke at the 2004 Athens Games. Hansen punched his ticket to London on Tuesday night by winning the 100-meter breaststroke.

Prenot will also swim the 200-meter individual medley on Friday. He is seeded 18th with a time of 2:02.24.

Stevens, 16, also had a personal best time in the event. He finished in 2:19.52, which was 46 one-hundredths of a second faster than his entry time. Stevens finished 63rd after being ranked 104th going into the event.

Prenot and Zimmer Swim at Trials

Santa Maria Swim Club swimmers Joshua Prenot and Meghan Zimmer both competed in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials today in Omaha, Neb.

Zimmer, who swims for San Diego State University, hit the water in the first heat of Wednesday’s preliminary session. She finished the 200-meter freestyle in 2 minutes, 6.36 seconds. Although she was nearly three seconds slower than her seed-time, the 22-year-old moved up from 114th place going into the event to 92nd.

Prenot, who is competing in a total of five events over the course of the eight-day meet, swam in the 200-meter butterfly. His time of 2:01.64 earned him 37th place.

Prenot, 18, will next swim in the 200 breaststroke on Thursday. Puma Aquatics swimmer Zachary Stevens will also compete in the event.

 

Stevens, Prenot, Kick of Olympic Trials

Puma Aquatics swimmer Zachary Stevens and Santa Maria Swim Club swimmer Joshua Prenot both competed on the first day of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Omaha, Neb.

Prenot, 18, hit the water first in the 400-meter individual medley. Prenot finished in 4 minutes, 22.53 seconds. He finished in 13th place.

The top eight finishers in the preliminaries of the 400 individual medley will compete again in finals tonight. The top two finishers in finals make the U.S. Olympic team. Defending Olympic champion and world record holder Michael Phelps is set to race Ryan Lochte, who is the defending World Champion. Also considered a serious contender in the event is Tyler Clary of Fullerton.

Prenot, who will attend UC Berkeley this fall, also swam the 100 breaststroke. His time of 1:02.89 earned him a 34th place finish in prelims.

Stevens, 16, competed in the 100 breaststroke as well. He finished in 1:04.26, two one-hundredths of a second faster than his entry time. The Arroyo Grande high school junior-to-be placed 72nd in prelims.

The top 16 finishers of the 100 breaststroke will compete in a semifinal tonight. The top eight in semifinals will advance to final, which will be held Tuesday night.

The other events that will be contested tonight are the women’s 100 butterfly semifinal, the men’s 400 freestyle final, and the women’s 400 individual medley final. Tonight’s events will be aired on NBC.

For complete results, click here.

Local Swimmers to Compete at U.S. Swimming Trials

Puma swimmer Zachary Stevens prepares for a race at the 2011 Junior Nationals, where he qualified for Olympic Trials.

Three swimmers from the San Luis Obispo area will compete in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Omaha, Neb. The Trials begin on Monday, June 25, and will run through Monday July 2.

Puma Aquatics swimmer Zachary Stevens is slated to compete in the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststrokes. Stevens, 16, is ranked 98th in the 100 breaststroke and 103 in the 200. Stevens just completed his sophomore year at Arroyo Grande High School, and placed second in the 100-yard breaststroke at the CIF SS Division II finals.

Stevens qualified for the Trials meet last August at the 2011 Junior Nationals in Palo Alto, Calif.

The Santa Maria Swim Club will be represented by two athletes in Omaha. Joshua Prenot is entered in five events. He will compete in both the 100 and 200 breaststrokes, in which he is ranked 35th and 18th, respectively. He is also seeded 18th in the 200 individual medley, and he is seeded 27th in the 200 butterfly.

Prenot, 18, is positioned best in the 400 individual medley, in which he is ranked 10th with a time of 4 minutes, 18.44 seconds. The top eight in each event advance to finals.

Prenot is set to attend UC Berkeley next fall.

The other Santa Maria swimmer is Meghan Zimmer. Zimmer, 22, will swim the 200 freestyle. She is seeded 114th in the event.

For complete psych sheets for the Trials, click here.

For the broadcast schedule of the trials, click here.