Air Force Academy

March 7, 2008

Austin, Texas - Competing against some of the world's best swimmers in hopes of qualifying for this year's Olympic Trials, members of the Air Force swimming team have concluded two days of action at the 2008 All-American Long Course Championships, being held at the Texas Swim Center.

On Thursday, junior Bryan Avery (Mililani, Hawaii) notched an Olympic Trial qualifying time in the 100 butterfly, clocking in at 55.58 in the finals. Avery, who set the Air Force record in the 100 fly at last week's Mountain West Conference Championships, finished 11th in the event, which featured world record holder Ian Crocker. Meanwhile, freshman Benjamin Gunn (Gainesville, Ga.) placed 13th in the same event before securing an Olympic Trial qualifying mark of 55.53 in Friday's time trials.

Also competing on Thursday were junior Kai Yamashiro (Kaneohe, Hawaii), sophomore Sean O'Keefe (Lake Oswego, Ore.) and freshman Kaeli Kluesner (Denver, Colo.). Yamashiro finished eighth in the men's 200 IM after swimming a time of 2:12.00 in the preliminaries, competing in a strong field which included world record holder Michael Phelps. O'Keefe also placed eighth in the men's 400 freestyle with a mark of 4:01.67, less than two seconds short of an Olympic Trial qualifying time.

Meanwhile, Kluesner finished 23rd in the women's 200 IM, clocking in at 2:29.47 in the preliminaries.

Friday's action included the 400 IM, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke and 200 freestyle events. Junior Justin Day (Peyton, Colo.), competing in his first event of the weekend, notched an Olympic Trial qualifying time of 1:03.79 in the 100 breast, finishing sixth in the event.

Yamashiro and Gunn both competed in the 100 back, which featured world record holder Aaron Peirsol. Each missed a qualifying mark by less than a second, with Yamashiro finishing eighth in the event and Gunn placing 13th. Meanwhile, Avery and O'Keefe were part of the field in the 200 free, which was headlined by two-time Olympian Klete Keller. Avery finished 15th in the event while O'Keefe clocked the 21st fastest time in the preliminaries.

The Falcons conclude competition tomorrow with events including the 200 back, 100 free, 1500 free, 200 breast and 200 fly.