BYU swim: Taylor ties for seventh in 100 backstroke finals at U.S. Olympic Trials (+video)

BYU’s Jake Taylor finished seventh in the 100 backstroke finals in the 2016 Olympic Swimming Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, on Tuesday, June 28, 2016.

Matthew Bish, Bold Action Media

Jake Taylor of BYU swim and dive tied for seventh Tuesday night in the 100 backstroke final at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials.

Taylor’s time of 54.72 tied him with Sean Lehane in the eight-man field, but well behind the 52.26 of winner Ryan Murphy and 52.28 by David Plummer who finished first and second, respectively, for the spots on the Olympic team.

“It was truly amazing to have a BYU athlete in the top eight at the Trials,” BYU coach John Brooks said. “I’m so proud of Jake. He is a true pioneer for BYU swimming. Jake proves it can be done at BYU.”

Taylor goes through another cycle of preliminaries on Thursday morning, this time for the 200 backstroke with teammate Preston Jenkins again. Should either advance, the semifinals will be Thursday night, with the finals on Friday night.

Next up for BYU is All-American Payton Sorenson on Wednesday morning in the 100 freestyle prelims, with a Wednesday evening semifinal if he advances.

Ralph R. Zobell has worked for BYU Athletic Media Relations in various capacities for over 30 years. You can view his bio at byucougars.com/staff/athletics/ralph-zobell or contact him at ralph_zobell@byu.edu.