Olympics: Lütolf sprints into breaststroke final
St Gallen's Remo Lütolf has become the first Swiss swimmer in 12 years to qualify for an Olympic final. Lütolf knocked almost half a second off his own Swiss record during the semi-finals of the 100-metre breaststroke.
The 20-year-old swimmer only just made it into the semi-finals, securing the last available place with a time of 1’02″54. But he showed a marked improvement in his second race of the day, grabbing the last spot in the finals with a time 1’01″84.
Lütolf admitted afterwards that he had doubted his chances following his time in the first heat. “A place in the final seemed impossible,” he said, “but it’s easy to account for the difference in my times. In the semi-final I didn’t mistime my start.”
After squeezing into the last eight, Lütolf was remaining realistic about his chances in Sunday’s final. “It’s no good dreaming,” he said. “I’m not going to be able to knock off many more hundredths of a second.
“But one thing is for sure. I’m going to try to make another quick start. There’s no point in trying to change things now.”
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