University of Connecticut Athletics
Huskies Compete at Olympic Team Trials
7/8/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
STORRS, CT (July 14) - University of Connecticut swimmers Dustin Rogers and Jacquelyn Craft competed this past week at their respective nations’ Olympic team trails but were unable to join incoming freshman swimmer Abed Kaaki as qualifiers for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.
Rogers swam the best time of his career, 54.53 seconds, to finish 14th the 100 butterfly in Long Beach, Calif. at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, advancing through the morning qualifiers to the evening’s semifinals. A top-two finish was required to advance to Athens. Rogers won the event at both the 2003 and 2004 BIG EAST Championships.
Competing for her native Canada in Toronto, Craft advanced to the finals of the 200 breaststroke and placed an impressive seventh in the nation with a time of 2:33.41. Just like with American swimmers, Craft also needed a top-two finish for a shot at Olympic glory. Craft also swam in the 100 breaststroke on Wednesday and placed 15th overall with a time of 1:12.92. Craft won both the 100 and 200 breaststroke at the 2004 BIG EAST Championship to become the first UConn swimmer to win two BIG EAST titles in the same year since 1995.
Kaaki, a Saudi Arabian native who swam last fall at Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, will compete for Saudi Arabia in Athens in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly. He achieved his qualifying times during the Eastern Seaboard Prep School Championships, a meet in which he received MVP honors. He is believed to be the lone Saudi national to achieve an Olympic swimming qualifying time this year.
The Olympic Games begin on August 13.
