Video: Olivia Smoliga Talks 100 Backstroke Disqualification and DQ Overturn

2019 ATLANTA CLASSIC

 

Reported by Braden Keith & Nick Pecoraro:

Olivia Smoliga pulled off a big double on day 2 of the 2019 Atlanta Classic at Georgia Tech. A DQ in the 100 back nearly derailed her day, but ultimately she came away with Meet Records in back-to-back races.

Smoliga touched 1st in the 100 back final in 59.27, which was faster than her own Meet Record of 1:00.13 from 2016. She was initially disqualified, however, for a 15 meter violation. After the race, Smoliga protested to the officials, appearing to be showing them video to acquit her, and officials eventually reinstated her result. Meet officials have not said on what grounds the call was overturned, or whether the video they were shown had any impact on the decision.

Less than 20 minutes before that swim, Smoliga swam, and won, the 50 free in 25.05. That also broke the Meet Record, which stood at 25.21 from Simone Manuel in 2016.

WOMEN’S 100 BACK

  1. Olivia Smoliga, ABSC, 59.27
  2. Hali Flickinger, ABSC, 1:01.59
  3. Erika Brown, TENN, 1:01.64

*update: Smoliga’s DQ has been overturned

Just coming off breaking the 50 free meet record, Olivia Smoliga broke her second meet record of the night with a 59.27. Smoliga was originally DQed for going past 15 meters underwater, but has overturned it after video review.

Taking second was Hali Flickinger (1:01.59), who out-touched Erika Brown (1:01.64) by 0.05s. Both Brown and fourth-place finisher Natalie Hinds (1:02.02) just came off the 50 free final.

WOMEN’S 50 FREE

  1. Olivia Smoliga, ABSC, 25.05
  2. Kate Douglass, CPAC, 25.23
  3. Natalie Hinds, ABSC, 25.30

Scoring the third-consecutive meet record of the night was Olivia Smoliga, who smashed her prelims record of 25.20 with a 25.05. This is Smoliga’s second-best time of the season, just off her 24.83 from the Richmond PSS.

Swimming an in-season best was 17-year-old Kate Douglass, who took second behind Smoliga with a 25.23. Athens Bulldog Natalie Hinds finished in third with a 25.30. Tennessee’s Erika Brown took fourth in the race with a 25.35.

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Greg Brance
4 years ago

You guys need to get a camera that focuses correctly. The Auto-Focus on the camera was horrible and kept going in and out and you could never clearly see Olivia. Maybe you need to talk to Cody Miller about how to get camera equipment that can properly focus.

Swimmer
Reply to  Greg Brance
4 years ago

Maybe you need to realise that SwimSwam do a great job and we can access all this awesome content for free and so maybe a slightly less entitled tone in your comments might be a good idea?

Really
Reply to  Swimmer
4 years ago

Or he could post something accurate, which he did….0

Greg Brance
Reply to  Swimmer
4 years ago

There is a ton of Video content on YouTube that is put out by amateurs and they use camera equipment that can auto-focus correctly.

BSD
4 years ago

So….. y’all got people there to record interviews but didn’t record any of the races?

Hswimmer
Reply to  BSD
4 years ago

Right!

Ryan
Reply to  BSD
4 years ago

Haha true. I would love to see dressels 100 breast

ArtVanDeLegh10
Reply to  BSD
4 years ago

I’m not they’re allowed to post the videos

About Reid Carlson

Reid Carlson

Reid Carlson originally hails from Clay Center, Kansas, where he began swimming at age six.  At age 14 he began swimming club year-round and later with his high school team, making state all four years.  He was fortunate enough to draw the attention of Kalamazoo College where he went on to …

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