Raab Barely Misses U.S. Olympic Team Berth

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July 10, 2004

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Rising fourth-year Michael Raab (Rockville, Md./Walter Johnson) just missed qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Team as he finished third in the finals of the 200-meter butterfly at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials Saturday evening (July 10) at the Charter All Digital Aquatic Centre in Long Beach, Calif. Former UVa standout and volunteer assistant coach Ed Moses (Burke, Va./Lake Braddock) advanced to the finals of the 200-meter breaststroke by finishing fifth in the semifinals.

Raab, a first-team All-American in the 200 butterfly, missed finishing second in the 200-meter butterfly by just 34 hundredths of a second. He was third with a time of 1:57.71. Tom Malchow was second in 1:57.37, while Michael Phelps took the top spot with a time of 1:54.31 to earn the two Olympic Team bids. Raab was also third in the prelims (1:58.56) and semifinals (1:57.60) on Friday.

Moses was fifth in the semifinals of the 200-meter breaststroke with a time of 2:15.00. He will attempt to earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team Sunday evening in the finals of the event. He was third in the prelims Saturday morning with a time of 2:15.86.

Rising second-year Kimi Kelly (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Ursuline School) and fourth-year Kate Wrenshall (Pittsburgh, Pa./Bolles School) both competed in the prelims of the 200-meter butterfly, but did not advance to the semifinals. Kelly was 27th with a time of 2:16.49, while Wrenshall finished 44th in a time of 2:19.16.

The U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials continue Sunday with several Cavaliers competing. In addition to Moses in the finals of the 200 breaststroke, Luke Wagner (Englewood, Colo./Regis Jesuit) and rising fourth-year Bo Greenwood (Manakin, Va./Goochland) will compete in the 200-meter backstroke. Greenwood is also scheduled to compete in the 200-meter individual medley.