Michigan Olympic Updates: Thursday, Aug. 11
8/11/2016 12:00:00 AM | Olympics
• Rio Olympics Site | U-M Olympics Coverage
Women's Rowing: Pair Semifinals/Double Sculls Final A
With races resuming in calm conditions on Thursday, right off the bat in the morning was the women's pair semifinal for Felice Mueller (2009-12) and Grace Luczak (2008). Mueller and Luczak put in another strong performance, jumping out into third place through 1,000 meters, then chasing down the pair from South Africa for second place in their semifinal (7:20.930) and a spot in the Olympic Final on Friday (Aug. 12) at 10:04 a.m. EDT. Later in the morning, Ellen Tomek (2003-06) and women's double sculls partner Meghan O'Leary competed for a spot on the podium, and in challenging conditions, ended their Olympic campaign with a sixth-place finish (8:06.180). Previously, Tomek finished fifth in the double sculls at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
• Felice Mueller, Grace Luczak (pair): 2nd, A/B semifinal (7:20.93) -- advanced to Olympic Final
• Ellen Tomek (double sculls): 6th, Olympic Final (8:06.18)
Women's Swimming: 200m Backstroke Heats
Claudia Lau swam her second and final event in Rio, finishing 18th (2:10.94) in the preliminaries of the 200-meter backstroke on Thursday (Aug. 11). She was three-tenths of a second outside the top 16.
• 200-meter Backstroke: 18 - Claudia Lau (2:10.94)
Men's Swimming: 200m IM Final/100m Butterfly Semifinals
In the span of 40 minutes, Michael Phelps won the 200-meter individual medley (1:54.66) and qualified for the final of the 100-meter butterfly, posting the fifth-fastest time (51.58). At 31 years old, Phelps is the first Olympic swimmer to win four consecutive Olympic gold medals in the same event, and it was a dominant performance, as he touched the wall nearly two seconds faster than silver medalist Kosuke Hagino of Japan (1:56.61). In his semifinals swim of the 100-meter butterfly, Phelps was eighth at the turn but came back down the final 25 meters to take second in his heat, just one hundredth of a second behind heat winner Laszlo Cseh of Hungary (51.57).
Sailing
In a day that featured four races due to yesterday's postponement, Michigan alumnus Bora Gulari and his partner, Louisa Chafee, experienced a full spectrum of results -- high and low -- to drop to 16th overall after the midway sixth race of the Nacra 17 Mixed competition. Boat trouble dealt the duo two scores of the maximum 21 points as they were unable to start the first race of the day and, later, unable to complete the third. They took 12th place (30:03) in the day's second race before wrapping the evening with a fourth-place showing (26:44), their best so far in the competition. With 59 points, they sit 13 points outside of the top 10 -- necessary to qualify for the final medal race -- with six preliminary races still remaining.
• Bora Gulari/Louisa Chafee (Race 3): Did not start
• Bora Gulari/Louisa Chafee (Race 4): 12th place (30:03)
• Bora Gulari/Louisa Chafee (Race 5): Did not finish
• Bora Gulari/Louisa Chafee (Race 6): 4th place (26:44)
