The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@treibunemedia.net

RIO de Janeiro, Brazil: The Olympic debut of Dustin Tynes came to an abrupt end as he touched the wall in the eighth and final spot in the men's 100 metre breaststroke on Saturday at the newly built Olympic Aquatic Swimming Complex in the Barra Olympic Park.

Tynes, 20, was the first of the three-member swimming team to compete at the 2016 Olympic Games. But his time of one minute and 03.71 left him out of contention for a second swim as he only beat out two competitors.

The event saw Adam Peaty of Great Britain post a world record of 57.55 in winning the sixth and final heat.

For Tynes, who was coming of his sophomore year at Ohio State University, the disappointment was clear as he walked through the tunnel in the mixed zone and refused to speak to the media.

Head coach Andy Loveitt said it was not the typical performance from Tynes.

"Dustin didn't do well today as well as he did in last year's Pan Am," he pointed out. "It's a big step up going to the Olympics, It's his first time. He never really got going."

Compared to last year when he was 28.29 through the first 50 at Pan Am, Tynes was 29.6 today and was off pace and will now have to switch his concentration on getting ready for Tokyo, Japan in 2020.

The focus is now switched to Sunday when Joanna Evans will begin her trek in the first of her three events here in the women's 400m freestyle at the swim complex.

The University of Texas freshman is also making her Olympic debut, although she has competed in the World Championships, Pan Am and the Commonwealth Games with Tynes and Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, the other members of the team.

Evans, 18, will swim out of the first of four heats of the eight lap race in the 50m pool in lane three. Her best time of 4:12.47 is also the national record. She will have to be in the top 16 in order to come back for a second swim.

"She's looking good. The pace where she was this morning was very good," Loveitt said. "The 4:12, which is the national record she did two years ago, we're looking for that to drop."

On Monday, Evans will swim in the women's 200m freestyle, starting at 8:27am. She will be in lane two in the second of six preliminary races in order to advance.

Then, on Thursday, Evans will return for the heats of the women's 800m freestyle where she will swim out of lane four in the first of four heats.

Vanderpool-Wallace, the veteran of the team, was scheduled to make her initial appearance at the games on Saturday as well, but she's not entered in the women's 100m butterfly, the first of her three events she's qualified to compete in.

Instead, she won't compete until Wednesday when she swims out of lane seven in the 100m freestyle. The top 16 will move on to the semifinal and final.

Vanderpool-Wallace will come back on Friday for the heats of the women's 50m freestyle.

"Arianna is looking good, so we're looking ahead to a big week here," Loveitt projected.