North Allegheny grad Rick Mihm reaches finals in 200 IM at U.S. Olympic trials

By: Michael Love
Thursday, June 17, 2021 | 2:30 PM

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The U.S. Olympic Swim Trials continued Thursday morning and local products Zoe Skirboll, Bailey Bonnett and Rick Mihm took to the pool in preliminary events in Omaha.

Mihm, a North Allegheny graduate and freshman on the men’s team at Stanford University, is off to Thursday evening’s semifinals in the men’s 200-meter individual medley after placing 15th overall in the prelims with a time of 2 minutes, 1.24 seconds.

He came in with a 2:03.02 seed time. He is one of the youngest competitors in the semifinals. NBC will have live coverage of the evening session starting at 8.

The men’s 200 IM finals, featuring the top eight from the two semifinal heats, is Friday evening.

Bonnett, a Highlands and University of Kentucky grad, came within 12 one-hundredths of a second of reaching the semifinals of the women’s 200 breaststroke as she placed 17th with a time of 2:30.44.

It was her fourth and final event of her second trip to the Olympic Trials.

The top 16 in the 200 breast advance to Thursday evening’s semifinals. Bonnett is a reserve for one of the two semifinal heats should someone scratch out before those heats are contested.

Skirboll, a rising senior at Fox Chapel, swam the first of her two sprint freestyle events — the 100 — and took 44th overall in a time of 56.31.

She will swim Saturday morning in the prelims of the 50 free.

On Wednesday, Upper St. Clair grad and Indiana University commit Josh Matheny finished 20th (2:13.88) in the prelims of the men’s 200 breast.

Also on Wednesday, Oakland Catholic and University of Virginia grad Leah Smith swam the finals of the 200 free and landed in eighth with a time of 1:58.13.

Smith has one event left — the 800 free — and she swims the prelims of that event Friday morning.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: North Allegheny