Early yesterday morning, U.S. swimmer Ed Moses was half a world away, applying the finishing strokes to a performance that earned him an Olympic silver medal in the men's 100-meter breaststroke.
Moses, a third-year College student who swam for the Cavaliers for two seasons, finished in 1 minute, 0.73 seconds, only 27 hundredths of a second behind Italy's Domenico Fioravanti. Russian world record holder Roman Sloudnov earned the bronze medal with a time of 1:00.91.
"I'm walking away with a silver and I had a chance for a gold," Moses told The Associated Press. "After [only] three years of [top-level] swimming, I'm pretty happy."
Moses, the world short-course record holder, led at the turn with a split time of 28.60, but Fioravanti, the reigning European champion, surged from fifth place over the final 10 meters to defeat Moses and Sloudnov.
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In its Olympic preview, Sports Illustrated forecast that Moses would take the gold, but the two-time NCAA champion was relegated to second place by Fioravanti, who won each of the first two rounds and established an Olympic record in the final with a time of 1:00.46.
"The expectations and the pressure were enormous," Cavalier coach Mark Bernardino said. "For an athlete who has been in competitive swimming for three years and who was competing in just his second international meet ever, he did very well. When you look at the meteoric rise to his career, to go from being a high school golfer to a collegiate swimmer, I'd rather stress the positives."
Bernardino said he spoke to Moses last night, as the 20-year-old Burke, Va. native headed to the pool for the morning's events.
"He's thrilled the way it went out and he learned a lot," Bernardino said. "It's definitely the type of meet where you can see experience pays off. Other than [17-year-old Australian star Ian] Thorpe, most of the people who've succeeded thus far are more experienced. He did say the pressure was enormous, more than he could have ever imagined."
Moses also told Bernardino that he is now especially juiced up to help the U.S. men defeat Thorpe and the rival Australians in the upcoming 400 medley relay.
Moses was not the only Virginia swimmer in action in the first few days of the Summer Games. Sophomore Mirjana Bosevska swam in the preliminaries of the women's 400 individual medley and 200 butterfly, but did not advance in either event. Bosevska, a Macedonian who competed in the 1996 Olympics, finished 17th in the 400 IM with a time of 4:48.08 and 31st in the 200 fly with a time of 2:16.87.
Bernardino said he was extremely pleased with Bosevska's performance, particularly in the 400 IM, where she shaved more than three seconds off her personal best and narrowly missed her goal of finishing in the top 16.
Canadian Shamek Pietucha, a 1999 University graduate who holds both Cavalier men's butterfly records, failed to qualify for the semifinals of the men's 200 fly, placing 19th (1:59.59) in the prelims.
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