Only one of Wyoming's five representatives in the men's 200 meter breaststroke at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials made it past the first round - but he's close to earning an Olympic spot in the process.

Former UW swimmer and 2004 Olympian Scott Usher qualified for today's finals in the event by finishing fifth in the semifinals with a time of 2 minutes, 11.63 seconds.

Usher, a native of Grand Island, Neb., finished second in the opening round of qualifying with his time of 2:11.41. He finished seventh in the 100 meter breaststroke earlier this week.

Four other swimmers with Wyoming ties also swam in the preliminaries of the 200 meter breaststroke.

Worland native Will Vietti finished 26th at 2 minutes, 17.52 seconds, just less than 2 seconds away from semifinal qualifying. Incoming UW freshman Brandon Fischer finished 45th at 2:19.56, UW senior Alex Larkin finished 51st at 2:21.81 and Casper native Alec Haley finished 53rd at 2:22.05.

Casper native Kristen Heiss, now swimming for Texas A&M, will swim in the women's 200 meter backstroke trials on Saturday.