July 8, 2004
CBC SPORTS ONLINE

Malar, Limpert miss Olympic standard at swim trials

Joanne Malar's next stop could be retirement - again - but not Athens, Greece.

The Canadian swimmer on Thursday failed to meet the Summer Games qualifying time in the 200-metre individual medley, finishing in two minutes, 15.21 seconds at the Olympic trials in Etobicoke, Ont.

"I had a great career," said the 28-year-old Hamilton native, who had retired following the 2000 Olympics in Sydney after finishing fifth in the 200 IM and seventh in the 400 IM.

Malar returned to competition in May 2003 with the goal of qualifying for her fourth Olympics.

Marianne Limpert (2:15.14) won Thursday's race, but also missed the qualifying standard of 2:14.71.

Malar failed to qualify in the 400 IM on Tuesday, finishing a distant fourth behind Toronto's Liz Warden, who also didn't qualify.

Limpert, bidding to make her fourth Olympic team, sat out the 400 IM. The Fredericton, N.B., resident won a silver medal in the 200 IM at the 1996 Atlantic Olympics and was fourth in the event four years later in Sydney.

In the men's 200-metre breaststroke Mike Brown of Perth, Ont., tied Morgan Knabe's Canadian record of 2:12.74.

Vancouver's Scott Dickens, 20, finished second but didn't swim the Olympic qualifying time while Knabe was third in 2:15.73. He already had qualified for Athens by winning Tuesday's 100 breaststroke in a qualifying time.

Both Brown, 20, and Knabe, 23, had pre-qualified for the Olympics by reaching the semifinals at last year's world aquatic championships in Barcelona.

Knabe, from Calgary, came to the trials hampered by a back injury he suffered in training and finished third in the 100 breaststroke.

To qualify for Athens a swimmer must finish first or second in their race. They also must clock a time equal to or better than the best 12th-place time in their event from the year 2000. They must record that time in the final of the trials.

A total of 14 people have qualified for the Olympic team.

Competition continues through Saturday.

reprinted with permission