IRVINE, Calif.?Kentucky swimmers Jenny Bradford, Grant Nelson and Will Vietti missed the qualifying round cut to participate in the evening finals at the 2006 ConocoPhillips National Championships in Irvine, Calif., Tuesday.
Although the three swimmers did not qualify for the finals, all bettered his or her own top time.
Bradford was the first Wildcat to participate in day one of competition. The 100-meter butterfly was the first event of the Championships and Bradford found herself in heat No. 2 of the qualifying round.
Bradford touched first in her heat with a time of 1:02.50, placing her second overall after two heats of competition. She would hold the No. 2 slot through four heats. Bradford watched from the sideline as her place in the top 16 fell from second to 16th after nine heats. She lost her stake in the top 16 after 10 heats of competition. Twelve heats competed in all, and Bradford finished 37th out of 92 swimmers.
Olympic gold-medalist Natalie Coughlin claimed the top time of the qualifying round in the 100-fly with a time of 58.28.
With some experience under her belt, Bradford has her two marquee events to look forward to in the coming days as she will participate in the 50-meter freestyle and the 100-free on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.
Nelson touched fourth in the fifth heat of the 400-free in a time of 4:00.51. He held 12th place after five heats, but quickly found himself out of the top 16. Nelson finished 39th out of 70 swimmers. He will compete in the 200-fly on Wednesday, his final event of the competition.
Like Bradford, Vietti took first in his 100-meter breaststroke heat. Vietti swam in the fourth heat and held fourth place after five heats. He dropped to eighth after six rounds and fell out of the top 16 after eight rounds. Vietti placed 27th out of 68 competitors for the best UK finish of the day. He will attempt to top this performance in the 200-breast on Saturday.
Olympic gold-medalist Brendan Hansen controlled the top time in 59.87 in the 100-breast event.
Daniel Farnham did not compete in today?s qualifying rounds. He will make his debut in the pool on Thursday, appearing in both the 100-fly and 50-free events.
