Tue 1 Jul 2008
Lindsay Payne ‘06 swims in Olympic Trials final tonight
Posted by ddavis under Alumni, Athletics, News
Posted at 9:27 amAs I was watching the swimming Olympic Trials last night, who should appear on the screen but Lindsay Payne! Payne won the 100 breaststroke in the NCAA Division III nationals all four years, and racked up many wins. I know her from a winter study photography class; here are her photos.
In the 100 breaststroke semifinals at the Trials, she tied for 8th with another swimmer (Jessica Botzum), so to determine which of them would make the final, the two swimmers had a match race last night — just two swimmers in the pool, with 14,500 spectators. It was very exciting to watch! Payne started out with a small lead, then at the flip turn they were tied, then Botzum pulled ahead a bit, and in the last stroke it was so even that they touched at the same time. The touch showed that Payne beat Botzum by 0.02 seconds.
Payne will compete tonight in the final (start list - PDF). It will be televised tonight from 8 pm - 9 pm eastern time on channel USA. She will be in lane 8. Y’all come watch now!
July 1st, 2008 at 12:16 pm
By 0.02 seconds! Talk about an exciting race!
Thanks Diana (and Larry, and aparent, and others), for keeping us ‘abreast’ of her amazing swim, and for the other sports news as well.
July 1st, 2008 at 12:30 pm
The men row tomorrow at the Henley. I’m sure it will be on the telly if anyone’s in the UK. They are racing for the Temple Cup.
Anyone have news on Dan Austin ‘06, the discus thrower?
I hope everyone’s summer training is going well. I admire the dedication it takes to train, often alone and in the heat, before or after work or school over the summer. I know we’ll see the results over 2008-2009.
July 1st, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Dan sits at 14th on the list of entered throwers (though final startlists don’t go up until wednesday). The prelims are thursday at 8:30pm, with the finals (for top 8) on sunday at 2:30pm. TV coverage of track being what it is, I doubt discus will get too much time, but the trials are on USA thursday night from 11pm-1am (eastern) and sunday on NBC from 7-9pm (eastern).
He’s the sort of guy that makes Mr. Rogers look like a jerk. At NESCACs his junior year I remember him inquiring and then consoling me (a mediocre, non-points scoring runner who’d just done badly even for himself) over my race while they were giving final calls for the discus throw. I was getting nervous that they’d start without him when he finally gave a last “I’m sure you’ll do better next time, buddy,” wandered over to the discus cage, and threw a NESCAC record 190ft. in the rain. The rest of the top 8 were between 140 and 155ft. Best of luck to him in Eugene.
July 2nd, 2008 at 10:48 am
Update: Lindsay Payne was seventh in the final, about two seconds behind the winner. Only the top two go to the Olympics, but as my (Olympic-marathoning) friend pointed out, “seventh in the country isn’t too shabby.” Results - PDF
July 2nd, 2008 at 11:03 am
When was the last time Williams had, currently or previously, an athlete who was no worse than 7th nationally (not merely collegiately) in his event/endeavor? Vern Squires?
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Since this is the latest athlete thread, I’ll update men’s rowing here. At the Henley, the men won their race today by a length and a half (official results in this two-boat side-by-side regatta are still kept by boat position, not time) to advance in the Temple Cup competition.
http://williams.prestosports.com/sports/mcrew/2007-08/news/Henley72
Equally exciting, I hear they raced Trinity twice in a Reading regatta and were down once and beat them the other. That was the first time the Williams men’s 1V had beaten the Trinity 1V in years — Trinity is highly competitive against (and often races) many strong Division 1 boats.
So, special shout-outs of luck to Lindsay Payne, Dan Austin and the men’s eight (including their coxswain, who is on loan from the women’s 1V). GO EPHS!
July 3rd, 2008 at 7:38 am
The men won this morning against Reading, further advancing in the Temple Cup competition at the Henley.
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:22 pm
The Payne train will be racing around 1PM Eastern Time in the 200 Breaststroke. She is seeded 28th with a time of a 2:32.28. The top 16 swimmers will advance to tonight’s semi-final. While the 100 breast is generally considered her better event, I expect a substantial time drop in this event.
You can watch her swim live, via streaming feed at:
http://www.nbcolympics.com/swimming/news/newsid=142526.html#swimming+trials+live+prelims
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:51 pm
She didn’t make it in the 200 M. Hard to compete in a second event and to have had all the excitement and extra stress of the swim off. She did very, very well by herself. What a magnificent athlete. I wish her great further successes in the pool if she decides to keep on with it.