It would have been a major upset in Olympic swimming if the reigning 100 freestyle champion failed to qualify for the semifinals, but Nathan Adrian managed to squeak into tonight’s semis in 16th place.
Adrian, coming off a gold-medal performance Sunday as part of the 4×100 free relay, finished last in his preliminary heat in 48.58 seconds. Teammate Caeleb Dressel also made the semis with the second fastest time in 47.91. Australia’s Kyle Chalmers was the fastest qualifier in 47.90.
Adrian wasn’t too concerned and spoke to swimswam.com following his morning’s race.
“It was alright, feeling a little rusty this morning, trying to get back into the meet after a pretty late night the other night. It doesn’t affect anything really, you’re swimming for a lane, and tonight is going to be the same thing, we’re swimming for a lane. Actually, I’m pretty happy to get an outside lane, it’s always nice to get a little clean water, so looking forward to it tonight.”
Tonight’s session can be viewed live online at nbcolympics.com or on CBC locally starting at 6 p.m.
NBC is showing a highlight, tape delayed broadcast that includes swimming that starts about 7 p.m.
