Alabama's Polyakov Makes Olympic Breaststroke Finals
10/21/2004 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
University of Alabama sophomore Vlad Polyakov will swim in the Olympic finals of the 100-meter breaststroke Sunday, giving him a chance to medal.
Polyakov, who grabbed second in the 200 breaststroke at the NCAA Championships as a freshman, is eighth coming out of the semi-finals with a time 1:01.36. The United State's Brendan Hansen is seeded first in finals with an Olympic record 1:00.01. Polyakov, representing his native Kazakhstan, will also swim the 200m breaststroke later in the week.
Also on deck for the Tide's Olympic swimming contingent Sunday are Brendan Ashby, Igor Erhartic, Spiros Bitsakis and Apostolis Tsagkarakis.
Ashby, a senior in 2004, who will swim in the second heat of the 100 backstroke for his native Zimbabwe., while Erhartic, a rookie in 2004 for the Tide, will swim in the first heat of the 200 freestyle for Yugoslavia. Bitsakis and Tsagkarakis could both see action in the 400m freestyle relays, swimming for the home team, Greece.
In another Olympic note, former NCAA triple jump champ Andrew Owusu was out front in center during Friday's opening ceremony, serving as the flag bearer for his native Ghana.
