University of Minnesota Athletics
Tyler Swims Her Way Onto the Canadian Olympic Team
4/3/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
University of Minnesota women's swimmer Jillian Tyler (Calgary, Alberta) became the second Olympian in the program's history when she finished second in the 100-meter breaststroke at the Canadian Swimming Trials, tonight, in Montreal, QC. Not only did Tyler finish in the top two, she also swam under the FINA A standard time to earn her first trek to the Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, August 8-24.
Tyler improved her prelim time of 1:09.24 to touch the wall in a time of 1:08.54 and finish second overall. In order to become an Olympian, Tyler had to finish in the top two of her event and swim under the qualifying time of 1:09.01. Annamay Pierse won the event in a time of 1:08.32, while Erin Morningstar finished behind Tyler in a time of 1:08.78 for third overall.
"I was very happy with my morning swim," Tyler said. "I needed to cut some time off from the morning in order to make the team. In the finals, I really wasn't trying to focus on Pierse in front of me or Morningstar behind, but really wanted to compete at my best and focus on my swim. I am very happy with where I finished and am so excited to represent my country and the U of M in the Olympics."
Tyler becomes the Gophers' second Olympic athlete in the Gophers' program. The previous swimmer to earn a spot an Olympic team was Olga Splichalova, who swam in both the 1992 and 1996 Olympics with the Czech Republic. Tyler is the first Gopher Olympian who hails from Canada.
"All year, (freshman teammate) Megan Braun has called me her little Canuck and it was so great to have such support from my teammates in Minnesota," Tyler added. "I'm so ecstatic to be representing not only my home country, but also the University of Minnesota. I wore a Minnesota tattoo on my cheek in honor of our team and I couldn't be happier. It's more then anyone can ask for."
In order to accomplish her Olympic feat, Tyler did not taper for the Big Ten Championships in February or the NCAA Championships in March. Regardless, Tyler had a phenomenal rookie year with the Golden Gophers. Named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Tyler earned two individual event championships in the 100 and 200 breaststroke as well as earning an event win with the 400 medley relay. Tyler was an integral part of the Gophers' 2008 Big Ten Championship when she was named to the first-team All-Big Ten list. On the national level, Tyler was a four-time All-American this year in the 100 and 200 breaststroke and the 200 and 400 medley relays. Tyler's time of 59.87 in the 100 breast was second at the NCAA Championships, making her the national runner-up in the event. She set school records in the 100 breast (59.80), the 200 breast (2:10.18), the 200 medley relay (1:39.73) and the 400 medley relay (3:34.16).
"Everyone was tapering for Big Tens and I was resting," Tyler said. "It was really hard, but I had such great support from Minnesota with their energy and enthusiasm for me. It really paid off. When we got to the NCAAs and talking to Terry and Kelly, I really just wanted to make it to the A finals, whether it was finishing eighth or first. The team and the coaches really kept me focused on trying to get ready for the Olympic Trials. I can't say enough about how supportive they have been."
"Jillian really swam two smart races today and really positioned herself right where she needed to be," co-head coach Kelly Kremer said. "In her morning swim she did a great job to position herself well for the finals and swam a great race tonight. It was a challenging year for Jillian because she's such a team-oriented swimmer and to help her team in any way she could. She really wanted to do what she could during the college season, but she had great perspective on what her ultimate goal would be and that was to make it to Beijing. All year long we have all talked about controlling what you can control. She did a really good job of following that in today's races. In the last 15-meters tonight she did a real nice job of moving down the lane and finishing the race. It was really great to see."
Tyler will also compete in the 200 breast on Saturday and is seeded third overall with a time of 2:29.73.
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