HAMILTON, Bermuda (BOA/SMU) – Breaststroke specialist Julian Fletcher has added his name to the list of Mustangs who will represent their country at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro this August. Fletcher is one of eight athletes from Bermuda currently qualified for the event and will swim the 100-meter breaststroke.
The Mustang alum joins fellow swimmers Nina Rangelova (Bulgaria), Rachel Nicol (Canada) and Matea Samardzic (Croatia).
Fletcher is Bermuda’s current record holder in both the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke events and was a semifinalist at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, a feat he also reach at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. He is one of nine athletes in Bermuda to achieve “Category A” status from the country based on his international performance.
A member of the Mustang squad from 2011-14, Fletcher earned multiple all-conference accolades.
Rangelova competed for the Mustangs from 2011-14 earning seven All-America honors. Rangelova reached the Rio A cut in the 200-meter freestyle and will swim that event in August, with the possibility of adding the 50- and 100-meter distances to her schedule. This will be the third Olympics for the Bulgarian, as she competed at the Beijing Games in 2008 and 2012 London Games.
Nicol will compete in her first Olympics, representing Canada as one of two swimmers in the 100-meter breaststroke. During her time at SMU, she was a three-time All-America selection. She also holds the current program record in the 200-yard breaststroke.
Samardzic, who is set to join the program for the 2016-17 season as a transfer, reached her qualifying standard in the 200-meter backstroke with the possibility of also competing in the 100 distance as well as the 400-meter individual medley.
FINA will announce the final list of qualifiers for the Games on July 3. Swimming action runs from Aug. 6-13.
Swimming news courtesy of SMU Swimming & Diving.