BEIJING — Heading into the 2008 Beijing Games, Miko Malberg shared the 50-meter freestyle national record in his homeland of Estonia. After Thursday morning, the former LSU swimmer stands alone.
Competing in the ninth of 13 preliminary heats, the Estonian shaved three-tenths of a second off his personal best in the 50m free to shatter his country’s mark with a time of 22.37 seconds. Malberg placed 25th out of 97 competitors and missed the semifinals’ qualifying mark by only two-tenths of a second.
For Malberg, just the chance to represent Estonia in the Olympics signified the opportunity of a lifetime. Now, the 2008 NCAA All-American can leave Beijing with his country’s all-time mark and a career-defining performance against the fastest swimmers in the world.
“It was just a great swim for Miko,” said LSU coach Adam Schmitt. “To have the best swim of his career, breaking his national record, and to do it at the Olympic Games has to be an awesome feeling for him.”
Two Americans ? Ben Wildman-Tobriner and Garrett Weber-Gale ? advanced to the next round and will swim in the semifinal heats tonight. France’s Amaury Leveaux posted the top mark of the prelims with an Olympic-record time of 21.46.