Texas A&M’ Breeja Larson has finished sixth in the Oympic 100-meter Breastroke Finals at London with a time of 1:06.96.
However, it appeared that she may not get to swim at all. A collective gasp was heard from the packed stadium when Larson dove into the water alone, ahead of the starting horn in what might have been an automatic disqualification. But it was determined that there was an accidental sound emitted from the starting mechanism that caused her to leave the starting platform. There was no disqualification and all swimmers swam the race. It was won by Ruta Meilutyter of Lithuania in a time of 1:05.47. American Rebecca Soni finished second.
Another Aggie, Alia Atkinson, swimming for Jamaica, finished fourth at 1:06.93.
Another Aggie swimmer, Kim Pavlin of Croatia, finished seventh in her heat of the women’s 200 IM and did not qualify for the semi-finals.