Aug. 18, 2004
ATHENS- Agnes Kovacs, the reigning Olympic gold medalist in the 200m breaststroke, finished fifth in the event semifinal Wednesday, earning her a spot in the final Thursday and a chance to win her second Olympic medal. Kovacs, who is competing in her third Olympics for Hungary, won the gold medal in the 200m breaststroke in Sydney (2000).
Kovacs finished third in the first heat of the 200m breaststroke semifinals with a time of 2:26.63, qualifying her for a chance to defend her crown. She goes into the final as the reigning Olympic gold medalist and the Olympic record holder (2:24.03), which she set in her gold medal performance in the 2000 Games.
Sun Devil senior Florencia Szigeti, competing for Argentina, finished 28th in the 100m freestyle with a time of 56.71. Szigeti returns for her senior year at ASU as the reigning Pac-10 Champion in the 200m freestyle and holds the school record for the 100y and 200y freestyle events.
Former Sun Devil Ahmed Hussein clocked a time of 2:04.82 in the 200m backstroke, finishing 31st for Egypt. Hussein owns the school record in the 100y backstroke.
Still to compete in the Olympic Games is Sun Devil Joona Puhakka, the reigning 3-meter NCAA Champion. His competition begins Monday, August 23.
The swimming events at the Summer Games run through August 21 while the diving events will be contested through August 28.
2004 Olympic Summer Games, Athens, Results:
Agnes Kovacs - Hungary
200m breaststroke: 5th - 2:26.63
200m IM Finals: 4th - 2:13.58
200m IM semi-finals: 8th - 2:14.68
100m breaststroke: 10th - 1:09.12
Gavin Meadows - Great Britain
4 x 200 freestyle relay: 4th - 7:12.60
Petra Banovic - Croatia
200m freestyle: 32nd -- 2:04.24
100m IM: 25th - 2:20.83
Florencia Szigeti - Argentina
200m freestyle: 25th - 2:03.29
100m freestyle: 28th - 56.71
David Kolozar - Hungary
200m butterfly: 25th - 2:01.89
Ahmed Hussein - Egypt
100m backstroke: 31st - 56.86
200m backstroke: 31st - 2:04.82