Coffey Moves to U.S. Trials Wave II

Nebraska swimmer Audrey Coffey took second in the women’s 1,500-meter freestyle in the final event of the U.S. Olympic Trials Wave I on Monday at the CHI Health Center in Omaha.

Coffey, a junior from Naperville, Ill., raced to a time of 16:49.09 to trail only Kristin Cornish (16:42.63) in the longest event of the trials. Coffey finished nearly seven seconds ahead of third-place Alivia Lindorfer (16:55.85).

Coffey’s swim moves her onto Wave II of the U.S. Olympic Trials, which are set for June 13-20 in Omaha. She will join fellow Husker Autumn Haebig, who opened the trials with a win in the 100-meter backstroke in a school-record time of 1:01.23. Haebig’s win on Friday, June 4, allowed her to also advance in both the 200-meter and 400-meter freestyle events.

Haebig added a second-place swim in the 200-meter freestyle (2:00.94) in Wave I on Saturday. The 2021 Big Ten Champion in the 200-yard freestyle, Haebig also finished seventh (4:17.39) in the 400-meter freestyle final in Wave I on Sunday. 

Former Husker Tori Beeler also qualified for Wave I, finishing 44th in the 100-meter breaststroke (1:12.83). Beeler held the No. 52 seed time in pre-trials qualifying. She did not advance to Wave II.

U.S. Olympic Diving Team Trials take center stage for the Huskers on Tuesday, June 8, with Abigail Knapton and Sara Troyer representing Nebraska in Indianapolis. Both Husker All-Americans are set to compete in the preliminary round of the three-meter springboard beginning at 9 a.m. (CT). The 2021 Big Ten Diver of the Meet after winning both the one-meter springboard and the platform competitions, Knapton was also the conference runner-up on three-meter. The Omahan was a first-team All-American on both the three-meter and the platform at the 2021 NCAA Championships.

Troyer, who will be competing in her home state at the U.S. Olympic Diving Team Trials, was a 2020 CSCAA All-American in both the one-meter and three-meter springboards. The three-meter springboard semifinals at the U.S. Olympic Diving Trials are set for 6 p.m. (CT) on Tuesday with live television coverage by the Olympic Channel.

Knapton will be back in action on Wednesday, June 9, for the preliminary round of the platform competition at 12:30 p.m. (CT). The platform semifinals will by televised live on the Olympic Channel on Wednesday at 8 p.m. (CT).

The three-meter springboard final is set for Saturday at 4 p.m. (CT), while the platform final wraps up the U.S. Olympic Diving Team Trials on Sunday at 8 p.m. (CT). The finals of both diving competitions will be televised live on NBC.