Michigan Olympic Updates: Friday, Aug. 15
8/15/2008 12:00:00 AM | Olympics
Rowing
Matt Hughes and the American quadruple sculls qualified for the A final thanks to a second-place finish in their semifinal. The Italian crew led from start to finish, clocking in at 5:51.20. The U.S. boat kept in contact with Italy for the entire race but never took the lead, finishing in 5:52.81. France was fifth through 500 meters but had a strong final 1,500 meters and was third in 5:53.04, just 0.23 seconds behind the U.S. Estonia, Ukraine and Cuba were fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively. The men's quad A final is scheduled for Sunday (Aug. 17).
U-M volunteer assistant coach Ken Jurkowski concluded his Olympic racing by finishing fifth in the single sculls B final, placing him 11th overall among all 32 men's single scullers. Jurkowski sat in fourth place at the 500-meter buoy, more than a length back of Germany, which led wire to wire to win in 7:07.82. At 1,000 meters he maintained his fourth-place position but was falling farther behind the top three boats in Germany, Lithuania and Switzerland. In the final 1,000 meters Greece pulled ahead of Jurkowski to garner fourth place in 7:17.74. Jurkowski's time was 7:22.75.
| INDIVIDUAL | EVENT | RESULT |
| Matt Hughes (USA) | Men's Quadruple Sculls Semifinals | 2nd, Semi A/B 2 (5:52.81^) |
| Ken Jurkowski (USA) | Men's Single Sculls Final B | 5th (7:22.75) |
Swimming
Former U-M volunteer swimming coach Michael Phelps' historic Olympics continued Friday morning as he won the 200-meter individual medley in a world-record time of 1:54.23. Phelps has now won six gold medals in Beijing and 12 in his Olympic career. Phelps won the 200m IM by more than two seconds over Laszlo Cseh of Hungary. All six of Phelps' gold medal-winning swims in Beijing have broken world records. Later Friday morning, Phelps advanced to the final of the 100-meter butterfly by winning his semifinal in a time of 50.97. The 100m butterfly final will take place Saturday morning in Beijing.
Former Wolverine Peter Vanderkaay was back competing at the National Aquatics Center on Friday evening in the heats of the 1,500-meter freestyle. Vanderkaay finished fourth in heat five, touching the wall in a time of 14:52.11. Vanderkaay's time was 11th out of 35 athletes competing in the 1,500m freestyle but was not good enough to advance him to the final.
On the women's side, Natasha Moodie, swimming for Jamaica, failed to advance in the 50-meter freestyle despite swimming a personal-best time of 25.95, which broke her own national record of 26.08 she set earlier this year to qualify. Moodie, who will be a sophomore at U-M in 2008-09, was fifth in her heat and finished in 37th place overall in the preliminary round.
| INDIVIDUAL | EVENT | RESULT |
| Michael Phelps (USA) | Men's 200m Individual Medley Final | 1st, Gold (1:54.23*) |
| Michael Phelps (USA) | Men's 100m Butterfly Semifinals | 1st, Semi 1 (50.97^) |
| Peter Vanderkaay (USA) | Men's 1,500m Freestyle Heats | 4th, Heat 5 (14:52.11) |
| Natasha Moodie (Jamaica) | Women's 50m Freestyle Heats | 5th, Heat 8 (25.95) |
Track and Field
The U-M men's 1,500-meter trio -- former NCAA champions Nate Brannen, Kevin Sullivan and Nick Willis -- advanced to Sunday night's (Aug. 17) semifinal round with automatic-qualifying performances in their respective preliminary heats Friday, the opening day for track and field action at National Stadium.
Willis claimed second place in the first heat, posting a time of 3:36.01 to move into his second career Olympic semifinal. With the tight pack taking a pedestrian stroll through the first lap (57.74), Willis moved straight to the back and remained near the rear of the field until the race's halfway point. At 800 meters, the New Zealand native cut to the outside and began to move, pushing quickly to the front, where he led at the 1,200-meter mark with a 2:55.52 split. He put a slight distance on the pack and held until the homestretch as he eased up to the line.
Brannen, representing Canada in his first Olympic Games, also claimed runner-up honors in the second heat with a 3:41.45 showing. In the slowest race of the of the 1,500-meter preliminary heats, the field remained bunched through a 60.78 opening split with Brannen caught on the inside rail near the front of the pack. Brannen could not improve his position on the inside and fell back several spots before moving back to fifth place entering the bell lap. He found a gap around the bend, following Kenya's Asbel Kipruto Kiprop to the front, and came out of the turn in second place, where he remained down the final stretch.
Sullivan's fourth heat produced the fastest times of the qualifying rounds as the three-time Canadian Olympian used his kick to steal the last automatic spot, taking fifth place with a time of 3:36.05. As the field quickly strung out in response to a lightening-fast 54.79 opening split, Sullivan immediately dropped back to the last position, where he stayed through the race's first 800 meters. He started to move at the halfway point, moving into the seventh position at the bell, and picked up another couple of spots out of the final turn.
Anna Willard, another former U-M national champion, advanced to the finals in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Running in the third of three heats, Willard crossed the line sixth in a time of 9:28.52 and, with the top four in each heat plus the next three fastest times advancing, earned the last spot in the final. Willard posted the 11th-best time overall among the 47 runners competing in the first-ever women's Olympic steeplechase race, and she will be one of 15 athletes vying for medals in the final on Sunday evening.
| INDIVIDUAL | EVENT | RESULT |
| Nate Brannen (Canada) | Men's 1,500m First Round | 2nd, Heat 2 (3:41.45+) |
| Kevin Sullivan (Canada) | Men's 1,500m First Round | 5th, Heat 4 (3:36.05+) |
| Nick Willis (New Zealand) | Men's 1,500m First Round | 2nd, Heat 1 (3:36.01+) |
| Anna Willard (USA) | Women's 3,000m Steeplechase Heats | 6th, Heat 3 (9:28.52^) |
Water Polo
USA Water Polo got its second double-digit save performance from former Michigan All-America goalkeeper Betsey Armstrong in a 12-7 victory over Russia to conclude pool play Friday evening. Armstrong had a big lead to play with from the start, as the United States stormed out to a 6-0 lead against the third-ranked team in the world. Armstrong held the Russians to two power-play markers in three quarters before Jaime Hipp spelled her for the final frame. The Americans finished atop Group A and earned an automatic berth in the semifinals Tuesday (Aug. 19) against the winner of China and Australia.
| INDIVIDUAL | EVENT | RESULT |
| Betsey Armstrong (USA) | USA Water Polo vs. Russia | W, 12-7 (10 saves) |
^ Qualified for finals
+ Advanced to semifinals
