North Carolina State University Athletics
Hansson Takes Sixth in 100 Breaststroke Final at Tokyo Olympics
7/26/2021 10:29:00 PM | Swimming
TOKYO – Sophie Hansson of the NC State women's swimming and diving team rounded out the first individual Olympics final of her career by taking sixth place in the 100-meter breaststroke on Monday night. She clocked in at 1:06.07 in a stacked field on the world's biggest stage.
The Helsingborg, Sweden, native was already the first female swimmer in team history to earn an Olympics qualifying berth (Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020), and her appearance in the 100-meter breaststroke final marked the first such berth for any NC State women's swimmer in the program's 46-year history.
Hansson entered this year's Olympics as a top-eight seed in the 100-meter breaststroke, and she maintained that spot through all rounds of her Tokyo 2020 journey. The rising Wolfpack senior set the Swedish national record in the event to qualify for the Olympics a few months ago and immediately lowered that record to 1:05.66 in the prelims on Sunday. That time was also a new Nordic record, and Hansson then went 1:05.81 in the semifinal to book her spot in Monday's medal race.
Fellow NC State breaststroker Andrea Podmanikova also found success in the event in her Olympics debut. The Slovakia native won her 100-meter breaststroke heat in 1:08.36 on Sunday, with that time marking a new personal best.
Incoming freshman Noe Ponti joined those women in highlighting NC State's early performances at the 2020 Olympics. Ponti lowered his own Swiss record in the 200-meter butterfly to 1:55.05 in the prelims, and he went 1:55.37 in the semifinal.
Tuesday will mark the first action of the meet for alumnus Anton Ipsen and newcomer Alexander Norgaard as they compete in the 800-meter freestyle heats. Those races are set to go off beginning shortly after 7:30 a.m. EST and will be streamed live on USA Network.
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