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INDIANAPOLIS -- Former Parkersburg South swimmer Macguire McDuff gave it a ride but fell short in his bid to qualify for the upcoming Summer Olympics in Paris.
McDuff, who just completed his junior season at the University of Florida, competed in the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials this week at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Entered in two events, McDuff's quest began with the prelims of the 100 freestyle on Tuesday. In a field of 66 entries, McDuff placed 13th with a time of 48.60 seconds.
The top 16 advanced to the semifinals later that day. In the second of two semifinal heats and needing to finish in the top 8 overall, McDuff swimming out of lane 1 turned in an overall time of 48.04 - which resulted in the sixth fastest time. His seed time going into the event was 48.08.
Thursday night in front of a national television audience, McDuff stood on the block in lane 7. As he made the turn through the first 50 meters, his time of 23.18 kept him in contention with the remaining field.
However on his final 50, McDuff fell back behind the pack and touched the wall in eighth place with a time of 48.64.
Chris Guiliano qualified for his first Olympics by winning the event in a time of 47.38. Runner-up Jack Alexy (47.47) also earned an automatic bid. Third and fourth place went to Caeleb Dressel (47.53) and Hunter Armstrong (47.78), who will round out the United States' 4×100 relay team.
On Thursday in the prelims of the 50 freestyle, McDuff swam under his seed time by six-hundredths of a second and finished with a time of 22.36. He placed 21st in a field of 84 swimmers and missed qualifying for the final heat.