Winnetka native and Loyola Academy graduate Conor Dwyer finished with the third-best time in the Men's 400-meter FR qualifying round on Saturday morning at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He finished just behind fellow USA teammate Peter Vanderkaay while the defending champion from South Korea, Park Tae-hwan, was disqualified due to a false start.
The biggest news of the early portion of the day for swimming events came with respect to Michael Phelps in the Men's 400-meter IM qualifier, where he barely avoided being cut. Phelps finished the qualifying round in eighth-place, just .08 seconds faster than the first swimmer cut from the competition. As Phelps told the media, he is just happy to advance at this point:
"When I saw the time, I was like, ‘Oh, it is going to be a challenge [making the final],'" Phelps told the media after the race. "That one didn't feel too good. The only thing that matters is just getting a spot in [the final]. You can't win the gold medal from the morning."
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