The longest deciding race of the entire U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials took place Monday night, when eight men hit the pool for the men's 1500-meter freestyle. Andrew Gemmell prevailed, and punched his ticket to London.
Gemmell finished swimming's equivalent of a marathon in 14:52.19, just .32 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Connor Jaeger, and both men earned spots on the 2012 London Olympic team for their efforts.
After 1450 meters, just .07 seconds separated Gemmell and Jaeger, turning the race into a sprint. Gemmell swam the final 50 meters in 27.54 seconds, enough to widen the gap on Jaeger, who finished with a final 27.79-second lap.
Both swimmers left the rest of the field in their wake: Chad La Tourette, the third-place finisher, was more than five seconds behind Jaeger, and every other swimmer was more than five seconds behind him.
Stay with our StoryStream for the latest from the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Swimming in Omaha, Neb., as Team USA is decided.
