Olympic and two-time World Championship bronze medal swimmer, George Bovell won his first gold medal of the season when he topped the field in the men's 50m freestyle final at the Danish Open Swimming Championship at the Bellahoj Swimming , Copenhagen, yesterday.
Lining up in the eight-man final from lane three, the top T&T swimmer got to the wall in 22.79 seconds for gold, ahead of Andreas Schiellerup (22.91) and Anders Lie (22.93) who got silver and bronze respectively as he continues his preparations for the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in August.
The other finishers were Magnus Jakupsson (23.18), Tobias B. Bjerg (23.39), Kevin Witt Christensen (23.59), Simon Vingolf Larsen (23.63) and Philip Greve (23.76).
Earlier in the morning session of the second day of the five-day meet which serves as that country's Olympic trial, the 32-year-old Bovell, a former Auburn University standout and multiple NCAA champion who entered as the top seed with a time of 22.17 seconds was second home in the eighth and final heat and third fastest overall in 23.15 seconds.
Lie won the heat in 22.72 to be the top qualifiers overall while Jakupsson was third in 23.35 and also qualified to the gold medal splash.Others in the heat, but who failed to make the final were Sebastien Tullberg (24.16), Peter Gjerulff (24.35), Magnus Fallesen (24.59), Eyobjorn Joensen (24.66) and Johan Bragason (24.69).
The trio of second seeded Schiellerup (23.11), Christensen (23.68) and Greve (23.69) qualified from heat seven and were joined by the heat six duo, Bjerg (23.39) and Larsen (23.99).Larsen just got the nod ahead of fellow heat six swimmers, Jens Bach and Lasse Lykke Nielsen, who also clocked 23.99.
At the Eindhoven Swim Cup last Wednesday, Bovell was fourth in the men's 50m freestyle final in 22.49, a mere .02 hundredths of a bronze medal which was on by Thom de Boer (22.47) behind Germany's Damian Wierling (22.43) and Suriname's Renzo Tjon A Joe (22.33).
In the semifinals, he clocked 22.68 seconds after his 22.84 swim in the morning heats while in March, he took bronze at the Sixth Trofeo Citta di Milan in 22.74
One of T&T's top medal hopeful in Rio, Bovell returns to competition in the 50m breaststroke on Sunday, and once again he will be the top seed with a time of 27.51 seconds ahead of Greve (28.00), Bjerg (28.04), Christian Rasmussen (28.30) and Lasse Pittioni (28.91).
Last weekend, Bovell swam to a bronze medal in the men's 50m breaststroke at the 12th Eindhoven Swim Cup, which also acted as the Dutch Olympic Trials, in 28.29 seconds to trail winner Hendrik Feldwehr who won in 28.10 and Timon Evenhuis, the runner-up in 28.20 at the Pieter Van Den Hoogenband Swimming Stadium.
Earlier in the heats, Bovell was the third fastest when he won heat six of eight in 28.47.A three-time Pan American Games 50m freestyle gold medalist, Bovell II was fourth in the 50m breaststroke in 28.50 seconds in Milan.