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| Arianna to jump back in the pool today |
Sheldon Longley
Guardian Sports Editor slongley@nasguard.com
Published: Aug 03, 2012
LONDON, England – Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace is set to jump back into the pool for what many consider her best event today. She would be the first to say that the 100-meter (m) Free is actually her best event, but for some reason, she usually does better in the shorter 50m sprint. The heats of the women’s 50m Free of these 30th Olympic Games are set for today at 10 a.m. at the Aquatics Centre. Vanderpool-Wallace will swim out of lane two in the 10th heat. “After what happened in the 100, I’m real eager to get going in the 50,” she said. “It’s going to be tough but I’m looking forward to the competition. With the 50 free, there isn’t much to think about. You just have to get out there and go, and keep going because the race is so short. I’ll just have to get off to a good start and hopefully power my way through to the semi-finals and final. It’s going to be tough but I’m looking forward to the challenge,” she added. Vanderpool-Wallace said that she just went through her race strategy with her coach today, and did a light workout. Her coach Brett Hawke has guided her and watched her progression for the past four years at Auburn University. The Auburn Tigers Head Coach was named as the national team coach for Vanderpool-Wallace as well. As for the Bahamian swimming sensation, she’s just hoping that her 50m Free would be better than her 100m Free. At last year’s FINA World Championships in Shanghai, China, she finished seventh in the final of the 50m Free, in her national record time, of 24.79 seconds. She’s hoping for a similar or even better performance. “That would be great,” she said. “To make it to the Olympic final would be a dream come true. I’m not really focused on it though. As long as I can come out here and swim a personal best time, that would ideal.” Ironically, Vanderpool-Wallace finished 10th overall in the 100m Free at the Shanghai World Championships, and followed that up this year with a 10th place overall finish. If that pattern follows itself, she could expect a final appearance in the 50m Free. She’s already seen a marked improvement over her inaugural Olympic appearance four years ago, in Beijing, China. There she finished 28th overall in the 100m Free, in 55.61 seconds. She was almost a full two seconds faster here in London. In the 50m Free at those same Olympics, she finished 24th overall, in 25.40 seconds. The semi-finals of that event are set for tonight at 8:27 p.m., and the final will be held tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. |
