Kanako Watanabe Reinstated After Morning DQ, Will Swim 100 BR Semis

2016 RIO OLYMPIC GAMES

• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Swimming: August 6-13
• Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Barra Olympic Park, Rio de Janeiro
• Prelims – 9:00 a.m/12:00 p.m PST/EST (1:00 p.m local), Finals – 6:00 p.m/9:00 p.m PST/EST (10:00 p.m local)
• SwimSwam previews 
• Day 1 Schedule & Results
• Live Stream (NBC)

This morning, the results from the women’s 100 breast preliminaries initially showed that Japan’s Kanako Watanabe had been disqualified. Swimming out of heat four, she had posted a time that looked to be just fast enough to qualify for tonight’s semifinals, but the letters DSQ appeared next to her name on the TV live broadcast.

On the start lists for tonight’s finals, however, Watanabe is listed as having swum the 16th-fastest time in prelims (1:07.22). After her initial DQ, it looked as though Italy’s Arianna Castiglioni would get a second swim with her 1:07.32, but now Castiglioni is listed as having gone the 17th-fastest time of the morning.

“Previous disqualification of Japanese competitor overturned after protest by the Japanese Federation” is listed at the bottom of the results page from Watanabe’s heat this morning. It looks as though Japan protested the DQ after it was called, and the DQ was later overturned. The IOC has not responded to a request for explanation of what Watanabe’s disqualification was for, or on what grounds it was over turned.

Watanabe will take lane 8 in the first of two semifinals tonight. The top eight finishers from semifinals tonight will move on to the final, which is slated for tomorrow night.