The French Swimming Federation is wheeling-and-dealing today, as athletes add and drop events to their Olympic schedules. The latest change is that former USC Trojans Clement Lefert has added the 100 fly to his Olympic schedule on strength of his 52.48 from French Trials, he revealed via Twitter today.
Though he didn’t originally meet the French criteria, the federation made the decision that given that he had already qualified, there was no reason to leave the event vacant when Lefert missed the “A” time by just .12 seconds.
Lefert’s primary event is the 200 free, but he definitely has skill in the butterfly events as well. He swam this 100 both at the 2009 World Championships and at the 2011 World University Games.
This now brings Lefert’s event total up to four: the 100 fly and all three relays, though the French haven’t declared yet who will be on which prelims and finals relays. This latest move adds to the announcement earlier today that Amaury Leveaux was dropping that same 200 free from his schedule.
It won’t have any impact on the Top 8 let alone being a medalist!