July 10, 2008
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Victories by Adam Meyer (Bethesda, Md.) in both of his preliminary heats highlighted the efforts by the Navy swimmers at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials that were held June 29-July 6 in Omaha, Neb.
Meyer posted a heat-winning time of 2:02.94 in the 200 fly to place 17th overall in the event and miss advancing to the semifinals by just one spot. Meyer edged Paul Parmenter's time of 2:03.15 for the victory in the heat, but Austin Surhoff recorded a time of 2:02.60 in another heat to place 16th and claim the last spot in the semifinals.
A rising junior at Navy, Meyer also won his preliminary race in the 200 fly, recording a time of 2:00.22 to defeat second-place swimmer Scott Rice by well over one second (2:01.47). His clocking placed him 19th overall and just three spots out of a berth in the semifinals.
With his recent clockings, Meyer is ranked 73rd in the world in the 200 IM and 96th worldwide in the 200 fly.
"Adam had two terrific swims," Navy men's swimming head coach Bill Roberts. "In both events, he won his heat while posting personal best times. I could not be happier for Adam to see his hard work pay off at the big meet."
Joe Smutz (Marriottsville, Md.), a 2006 graduate of Navy, also competed in a pair of events at the Trials. Smutz recorded times of 23.88 in the 50 free and 52.42 in the 100 free to place 77th and 117th overall, respectively, in his two events.
Representing the Navy women's team at the Trials were rising juniors Thuy-Mi Dinh (Anaheim, Calif.) and Mallory Dietrich (Pittsburgh, Pa.). Dinh placed 60th in the 50 free with a time of 26.31, while Dietrich's clocking of 1:14.73 placed her 102nd in the event.
"USA Swimming and all involved in Omaha put on a terrific event," said Roberts. "For anyone in attendance, it was a special event for the sport of swimming. As a coach, I am glad that Navy swimmers were able to take part in the 2008 USA Olympic Team Trials."
