BRYAN, TX -- The women’s 100-meter breaststroke final at the 2012 Olympic Games featured a pair of Texas A&M swimmers, but neither sophomore Breeja Larson (USA) or 2010 senior Alia Atkinson (Jamaica) would pick up medals.
15 year old Ruta Meilutyte of Lithuania won the gold with a time of 1:05.47. American Rebecca Soni came in second with a time of 1:05.55. The bronze medal went to Satomi Suziuki of Japan with a time of 1:06.46.
Atkinson just missed medaling in the event by .53 seconds. Larson came in 6th touching the wall in 1:06.96.
Nerves could have been an issue for Larson, who entered Monday’s final as the No. 4 seed.
With the swimmers on the blocks and ready to start the race, a malfunction took with the starting mechanism causing Larson to jump into the pool. Ordinarily a false start would result in a disqualification, but because of the malfunction Larson was allowed to participate in the race.
Breeja seemed to be able to collect her nerves and had a decent start. She was in 2nd place after 50 meters, but was overcome in the final 50 meters to finish 6th in the world.
Larson and Atkinson are Texas A&M’s second and third individual finalists ever at the Olympics and were seeking the program’s first-ever individual medal.
