Swimming: Freshman swimmer places second at Canadian Trials

Freshman swimmer Kourosh Ahani missed qualifying for the Olympics by a just over a second.

As… Freshman swimmer Kourosh Ahani missed qualifying for the Olympics by a just over a second.

As soon as Ahani finished his 100-meter butterfly race at the Canadian Olympic Trials this weekend, the Pitt coaching staff scrambled to figure out whether his second-place finish had earned him a ticket to London for the Summer Olympics.

Held in Montreal, Quebec, the Canadian Trials are a qualifying event for the Olympics. In the United States, the top two swimmers in each event in the U.S. earn the opportunity.

“Assistant coaches Carter Crosby and Casmera Wick were both there, and Casmera said she almost started crying she was so excited,” head coach Chuck Knoles said. “They were both so nervous their hands were shaking. It was a really, really exciting meet.”

But in the midst of their excitement, the coaching staff knew there was one catch.

For most top-tier meets, such as the NCAA Championship meet or the Olympic Trials, there are specific time standards a swimmer must attain in order to register for the meet. The Olympics are no different. There are two time standards for each event: the Olympic Qualifying Time and the Olympic Invitation Time.

The top two swimmers per event in each nation who swim Olympic qualifying times at the Olympic Trials earn a trip to the Olympic Games. If a nation has no swimmers with a qualifying time in a particular event, it can send a swimmer who makes the Olympic invitation time, a slightly slower time standard than the qualifying time. However, only one swimmer per nation with the invitation time can participate in the Olympics.

If the fastest two swimmers at the Olympic Trials both swim invitation times, then only one can go to the Olympics. If both swimmers achieve qualifying times, they both attend the Olympics. And if one swimmer achieves a qualifying time and the other an invitation time, both will attend, since one swimmer with an invitation time is allowed to participate.

At the United States Olympic Trials, it’s almost given that the top two swimmers in each event achieve qualifying times, since the competition is so deep. Canada, with little over one-tenth of the United States’ population, doesn’t have that guarantee.

That caused most of the confusion Saturday night.

In the end, both the winner, Joe Bartoch, and Ahani swam invitation times, meaning only Bartoch will make the trip to London. The 29-year-old out-touched Ahani by little more than a second, finishing with a 53.01.

Had Bartoch dropped seven-tenths of a second off his 100-meter fly time, he would’ve reached the Olympic qualifying time of 52.36 needed to allow Ahani to attend the Olympics. Instead, Ahani had to accept an alternate position for the event after posting a lifetime-best performance of 54.08.

“I’ve never been in a senior national final like this before, so it was a whole new experience for me,” Ahani said. “There were two thousand people in the stands and when I when I walked out and they said my name — it was just a whole boost of energy. And after I finished my race, I was just ecstatic. It was almost a second drop from my best time.”

Ahani was joined by teammates Renee Deschenes, who came in 61st in the women’s 100-meter butterfly (1:04.52) and 65th in the women’s 200-meter (2:30.01), and Veronica Lee, who finished 52nd in the 200-meter breaststroke with a 2:41.03.

On this side of the border, another five Pitt swimmers competed in the Indianapolis Grand Prix. The meet is one of seven in the USA Swimming Grand Prix Series, one of the highest sets of meets offered in the United States. The series takes on a more significant role in Olympics years, as swimmers attempt to gather in times to qualify for the Olympic Trial meet in Omaha, Neb., this June.

Pitt’s top performance in the meet came from another swimmer who wasn’t seeking to go to the United States Olympic Trials. Junior Hussein Medhat, a native of Cairo, Egypt, pulled in 32nd in the 200-meter freestyle, posting a 1:54.62. He was hoping to earn a ticket to London for the Egyptian team.

“It was okay. It wasn’t that close to the qualifying time, so it was a disappointment,” Medhat said. “The selection process is harder if you get an invitation time, and that’s faster than an Olympic Trial cut. After that, you wait for the Olympic Committee to decide how many people with the cut they’re going to take.”

He also put up other strong performances in the meet. Medhat took 49th in the 100-meter free (52.05), 46th in the 400-meter free (4:07.64), and 77th in the 50-meter free (24.84).

“He was one spot off coming back in the 400-meter freestyle and it ended up being one of his best swims,” Knoles said. “He didn’t want to swim it, but I told him he had to and he had a great swim.”

Freshmen Austin Caldwell and Jon Lierley both competed in the 100-meter butterfly at the event, coming in 58th (57.23) and 34th (55.84), respectively. The two then joined teammate Alex Rodenkirk to compete in the 50-meter freestyle. Caldwell took 54th with a 24.24, Lierley took 78th with a 24.85 and Rodenkirk placed 70th with a 24.57.

Additionally, Caldwell swam a 52.41 in the 100-meter freestyle, taking 55th. This placed him just ahead of Rodenkirk in the event, who touched in 52.54 to take 59th. Rodenkirk wrapped up his performance in the meet by swimming a 1:58.87 in the 200-meter free, placing 78th.

On the women’s side, junior and Poland native Joanna Budzis, took 50th place in both the 200-meter backstroke (2:23.45) and 200-meter IM (2:26.45).

The next meet in the Grand Prix series is the Charlotte UltraSwim on May 10th-13th. Swimmers will have the chance to make more Olympic qualifying times or Olympic Trial cuts before the Olympic Trials in Omaha this June and the London Olympics, which start July 27.