Fraser-Holmes-Less Final Renders No Aussie 200 IM Contenders In Rio

2016 HANCOCK PROSPECTING AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS (AUSTRALIAN OLYMPIC TRIALS)

• Thursday April 7th-Thursday April 14th
• SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre – Adelaide
• Prelims – 11 am local (9:30 pm EDT previous evening); Finals – 7:45 pm local (6:15 am EDT)
• Australian Olympic Qualifying Criteria
• Psych Sheets
• Program of Events
• Live stream
• Live results

Headed into today’s finals of the 2016 Australian National Championships, Thomas Fraser-Holmes was situated as the top seed in a mark of 1:57.92 in the 200m IM.

However, as reported yesterday, Fraser-Holmes scratched out of the finals, citing the fact that he’s already qualified in 3 events (400m IM, 200m freestyle, 800m freestyle relay) and didn’t want to “take away someone else’s dream.”

With the meet serving as the nation’s Olympic Trials, the top 2 swimmers in each event earn a spot on the Rio roster, provided they meet the specific qualification times outlined in the Australian Olympic-qualifying procedures. The specific Aussie-dictated qualifying time in the 200 IM event is 1:58.54, which meant that Fraser-Holmes just needed to repeat a race in the ballpark of his semi-final effort as well as finish 1st or 2nd to ensure a 200 IM roster spot.

With TFH opting out of the final race, however, the field was left to sort out its new leader in the final in the hopes of pacing 2 qualifiers. In the absence of Fraser-Holmes, the top time of the field was raced by 24-year-old Daniel Tranter, in 1:58.72. The North Baltimore Aquatic Club-trained athlete earned a mark of 2:00.55 in semi’s, but improved that to 1:58.72 in the final, but it still didn’t render the desired result.

Although Tranter clocked a top within his own top 5 personal bests, the mark fell short of the Australian qualifying time of 1:58.54, painstakingly by just .18 of a second.

As such, in the absence of Fraser-Holmes, paired with the inability of the remaining finalists to score an Aussie OLY standard, the Australian men will be without any representation in the 200 IM event at the 2016 Olympic Games.