Sat, Nov 22 2008
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Published July 06, 2008 12:51 am - Fort Gibson grad’s Olympic moment short, but she’s grateful By Kenton Brooks Phoenix Sports Writer
A time of 26.24 seconds in the preliminaries and overall finish in 54th place may not seem much to brag about, but Carly Miller is quite happy with her showing in the 50-meter freestyle at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb., on Saturday. The Fort Gibson High School graduate finished third in her heat, the seventh of 12. “I was just happy to be there,” she said. “I didn’t plan on being that nervous. I tried to have fun with it. I felt good breathing-wise and my start was good. It was a solid race.” One of 88 swimmers, Miller had to finish in the top 16 to advance to Saturday night’s semifinals. The finals are Sunday. It was a memorable event for Miller to be a part of. Elsewhere in the competition, 41-year-old Dara Torres broke the American record with a time of 24.38 in the semifinals. Torres broke the record of 24.50 set earlier in the day Saturday by Lara Jackson. Jackson had broken the record of 24.53 swam by Torres at Indianapolis, Ind., on Aug. 4, 2007. Miller said she was in awe of her surroundings as she walked out to the pool before stepping onto her starting block. “I’ve never seen that many people before watching a swim meet,” she said. “The lights were really bright.” Robert Miller, one of 10 family members who made the trip to Omaha, was proud of his daughter’s moment under those lights and a crowd of 13,717 — the largest ever to see a swimming trials event. “She looked good,” he said. “All of us were very proud of her. It was exciting.” Miller, a senior-to-be at Rice University in Houston, qualified for the Olympic trials back in March with her time of 26.11 seconds at the American Long Course championships in Austin, Texas. During the championships, she finished sixth in the 50 freestyle with a time of 26.58 seconds but her time trial of 26.11 helped earn her a spot in the trials. Miller came into Omaha seeded 44th overall. Before taking to the pool this weekend, Miller, a multi-time state champion while at Fort Gibson High School, was third at the Conference USA meet, breaking 23 seconds for the first time in a third-place finish (22.96), but that didn’t qualify her due to the meet being swam on a course measured in yards. She was third a year ago at the C-USA meet with a then career-best 23.31. Meanwhile, Oklahoman Samantha Woodard also came up short in her attempt to qualify for the Olympics in the 50 freestyle. She finished 25th overall with a time of 25.82. Miller doesn’t have any long-range swimming plans. 
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