NC State’s Nyls Korstanje Clocks Olympic-Qualifying 100 Fly Time

2021 LEN EUROPEAN AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Swimming: Monday, May 17th – Sunday, May 23rd
• Budapest, Hungary
• Prelims at 10:00 am local/Finals at 6:00 pm local
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After having missed the Dutch Olympic qualifying time for the men’s 100 butterfly by just .01 last month, Nyle Korstanje made the most of his last-chance opportunity here at these European Championships.

The 22-year-old claimed the 7th seed in the morning heats of the men’s 1fly here in Budapest, firing off a time of 51.83 to tie Italy’s Federico Burdisso headed into tonight’s semi-final. Although that is not Korstanje’s lifetime best, his outing here was enough to finally clinch an Olympic berth in the event, comfortably clearing the Royal Dutch Swimming Federation (KNZB)-mandated qualification time of 51.92.

This accomplishment is extra sweet for the Dutchman considering he was oh-so-close in his home nation just weeks ago. Competing at the Eindhoven Qualification meet in April, Korstanje put up a winning time of 51.93. That fell just .01 outside of the aforementioned 51.92 needed for Tokyo.

Then earlier this month, Korstanje, a member of the NC State Wolfpack NCAA squad, took down the 100m butterfly Dutch standard, stopping the clock in a quick 51.65. However, this result was performed at a time trials meet, not eligible for Olympic qualification.

As such, Korstanje’s 51.83 performance here, regardless of how he winds up in the semi-final and final, is good enough to notch his name onto the Tokyo roster for his Olympic debut.