GANNETT NEWS SERVICE MULTIMEDIA                                                                    Olympics home | E-mail feedback

August 20, 2004 4:18 pm

Joyce advances to 50-freestyle finals

By STEVE RIVERA

Gannett News Service

ATHENS, Greece - Kara Lynn Joyce accomplished what she had hoped Friday night, winning her heat in the 50-meter freestyle and moving on to Saturday's final at the Olympic Aquatic Center.

The Rochester, N.Y., native won her semifinal heat in 25.06 seconds.

``It's about winning your heat and trying to get a good seed for the finals,'' said Joyce, a Webster High graduate.

Joyce, who finished fifth in the 100 freestyle Thursday, had the fourth-best time among the 50 finalists.

Defending gold medalist Inge de Bruijn of the Netherlands had the fastest time of 24.56.

``I felt good,'' Joyce said. ``I swam a better time than I did (in the morning preliminaries), so that's good. All I can do now is get some rest and eat right and get psyched up for that.''

Joyce already has won a silver medal as part of the 4x100 freestyle relay team.

ADVERTISEMENT