Saori Haruguchi Qualifies for Finals in 200 Individual Medley
TOKYO – Saori Haruguchi qualified for the finals in the 200 individual medley at the Japanese Olympic trials with a time of 2:15.45, which was good enough for third place. During the preliminaries, Haruguchi finished in first place with a time of 2:15.81 on Thursday.
Haruguchi also competed in the finals for the 200 freestyle where she finished in eighth place with a time of 2:04.65.
On the fourth day of competition, Haruguchi will swim in the event where she earned her first NCAA victory, the 200 butterfly. She is seated in the 12th position in Japan. During the NCAA Championships, she made OSU history by being the first swimmer to win her event. She cut almost four seconds off the previous school record with a time of 1:52.39.
Haruguchi has already qualified for the Japanese Olympic team in the 400 individual medley when she won the event in a time of 4:38.94, Tuesday.
Haruguchi is the second swimmer from Oregon State University to qualify for the Olympics. Birte Steven represented Germany in the 200 breaststroke during the 2004 Olympics.
Swimming will continue Friday when Haruguchi will compete in the 200 individual medley finals and in the 200 butterfly preliminaries.
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