Omaha, NE (My Sportsbook) - Cullen Jones broke the American record in the men's 50-meter freestyle during the preliminary heats Friday at the U.S. Olympic Swimming trials. Jones, trying to become the second African-American swimmer to qualify for the Olympics in an individual event, finished in a time of 21.59 seconds to advance to tonight's semifinals. "I think there's a lot more in the tank, so we'll see what can happen tonight," said Jones, whose hometown is New Brunswick, NJ. Afterward, Jones acknowledged he took just one breath during the race. The old record of 21.76 stood for eight years and was held by Gary Hall Jr. Hall, attempting to make his fourth Olympics and the two-time defending champion in the event at the Summer Games, also made it to the semifinals with a time of 21.89. Hall's mark was third-best in the preliminary heats. Ben Wildman-Tobriner was second at 21.68. Garrett Weber-Gale, the winner of Thursday night's 100-meter freestyle final qualified at 22.05, tied with Nathan Adrian and Jason Lezak in fourth. On Thursday, Jones finished third in the 100-meter freestyle final and was named to the relay team. He's just the third African-American swimmer in the history of the U.S. Olympic squad, joining Anthony Ervin and Maritza Correia. Ervin tied Hall for the gold medal in the 50-meter freestyle at the 2000 Olympics. |
