Payne advances to finals of 100 breaststroke at Olympic Trials

OMAHA, NE. -- Former Eph standout Lindsay Payne '06 has advanced to the finals of the 100 breaststroke at the United States Olympic Swimming Trials being held at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb.

Over 100 women took part in the morning swim trials of the 100 breaststroke. Only the 16 fastest times would advance to the semifinals, and Payne's time of 1:09.35 was good for 12th overall, advancing her to the semfinals Monday evening.

Not content, Payne dropped her time .50 seconds to 1:08.85 in and placed eighth to earn a spot in the finals Tuesday night. She was tied with Jessica Botzum and faced a swim-off with the Vermont native to determine the eighth and final spot in the finals. ayne won the swim-off by two-tenths of a second. The swimmers with the top two fastest times from Tuesday night's finals will advance to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

Since September of 2006, Payne has been swimming with the University of Southern California Trojan Swim Club in Los Angeles. She is currently ranked 6th in the country in the 100 breaststroke and 25th in the 200.

Payne's Trojan Swim Club teammate, Rebecca Soni, owned the fastest time of the semifinals with a time of 1:06.87. Among the eight other finalists are seven-time Olympic medalist Amanda Beard and record-holder Jessica Hardy.