July 14, 2008
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech senior Onur Uras swam the 100-fly in 53.97 seconds to not only set a new Turkish National Team record, but qualified for the Olympic team. Uras will compete for Turkey in the Beijing Olympic Games next month. Incoming freshman Gal Nevo will also be participating in the Olympics as he qualified for the 200- and 400-IM and will represent Israel.
“Onur has made a huge impact in his four years swimming for Georgia Tech,” head coach Stu Wilson said. “This is a great ending to his outstanding career by finishing out swimming for Turkey at the Bejing Olympics.”
Nevo, meanwhile, qualified for the Israeli National Team by finishing in the top 12 of the recent European Championships. It was there that he broke the Israeli record in the 200 IM by finishing in 2:02.43.
Uras needed to clock in a 54.66 in order to make the Turkey National Team, but topped that by nearly three-quarters of a second. This is the second time he has participated in the Olympics. At the 2004 Athens Games, Uras finished 49th in the 100-fly with a time of 56.37.
Uras was an All-ACC performer in the 200-fly this season and set a Georgia Tech record (1:45.76) by a second and a half at the ACC Championships. He was also a member of the Tech record-setting 200-free, 800-free, 200-medley and 400-medley relay teams.
