Air Force swimmers head to U.S. Olympic Trials

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U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFPN) --  Three current Air Force swimmers are set to participate in the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials being held June 29 through July 6 in Omaha, Neb.

U.S. Air Force Academy rising seniors Bryan Avery from Mililani, Hawaii, and Justin Day from Peyton, Colo., as well as rising sophomore Benjamin Gunn of Gainesville, Ga., will compete to represent the United States in the Summer Olympics in Beijing. 

"The Olympic Trials are widely expected to be the fastest meet in history," said Air Force head coach Rob Clayton. "I predict we will see at least five world records set over the nine days of the meet. There will be some events where we will see several swimmers under the world record. It will be fabulous to be a part of such a fast, exciting swimming meet."

Day enters the trials seeded 37th in the 100 breaststroke, while Avery and Gunn will each compete in the 100 butterfly. Following the preliminaries, the top 16 performers in each event will move on to the semifinals. The top eight swimmers then advance to the finals, as the top two finishers in each event qualify to compete on the Olympic team.

"I'm excited to see how Bryan, Ben and Justin swim," Clayton said. "We've really had a good spring and summer training leading up to the Olympic Trials. I expect each of our guys to swim their best times in Omaha. Our goal is to make it into the semifinal round. That will require some tremendous swimming."

Other athletes with Air Force ties that will be competing at this year's trials include 2007 graduates Chris Knaute and Paul Parmenter. Knaute and Parmenter have been training for the past year with the Mecklenburg Aquatic Club in North Carolina as members of the Air Force World Class Athlete Program. Knaute is scheduled to compete in both the 200 and 400 individual medley, while Parmenter's slate of events includes the 200 individual medley, 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly.

"I expect Chris and Paul to have some fabulous swims," Clayton said. "They've spent the entire last 13 months focused on this one meet. They should be ready to be brilliant." 

Knaute competes in the 400 individual medley preliminaries June 29, followed by Day in the 100 breast. Parmenter starts his week June 30 with the 100 back, while both Knaute and Parmenter will compete in the 200 individual medley scheduled for July 3. Finally, Avery, Gunn and Parmenter will all take part in the 100 fly preliminaries, scheduled for July 4.

For complete coverage of the U.S. Olympic Trials, including live results, visit www.usaswimming.org.

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