INDIANAOPLIS — Cumberland native Daniel Diehl qualified for the 200-meter backstroke semifinals Wednesday at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Diehl, 18, swam a 1:57.90, which was tied for the fifth-fastest qualifying time. The Top 16 swimmers during heats advance to the semifinals, and the Top 8 times in the semis advance to the finals.
The 200-meter backstroke semis begin tonight at 8 p.m. and can be watched on NBC.
The Olympic Trials this year take place at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Jack Aikins had the fastest qualifying time at 1:56.24, followed by Keaton Jones (1:57.52), Ryan Murphy (1:57.78), Tommy Hagar (1:57.80), David King/Diehl (1:57.90), Hunter Tapp (1:57.93) and Caleb Maldari (1:58.16).
The event is the second this week Diehl has qualified for a semifinal in after doing so in the 200-meter freestyle on Monday.
The Allegany High grad, who was ranked as high as No. 1 in his high school class before signing with N.C. State early, nearly qualified for the finals in the 200m free but was edged in a swim-off by Aaron Shackell for the eighth and final spot.
The spectacle marked the first time since the 2008 trials a one-on-one swim-off was required to determine the final qualifying spot in an event.
Diehl was relatively close to qualifying for his first Olympics in the 200m freestyle because as many as six swimmers are taken in the event: the top two finishers and four more for relays.
He qualified just .11 seconds behind the No. 5 spot with a personal best of 1:46.83 but came up just short of the finals.
In contrast, Diehl will likely have to finish either first or second in the 200m backstroke as there are no backstroke relays.
The final in that event would be Thursday if Diehl is one of the Top 8 finishers in tonight’s semifinals.
He has two other events, the 200m individual medley (heat and semifinals Thursday, final Friday) and 100m butterfly (heat and semifinals Friday, final Saturday).
Diehl graduated from Allegany High early to compete at N.C. State this year, and the move paid off as he was named Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Freshman of the Year.
Diehl finished his freshman campaign with three top-16 finishes at the 2024 NCAA Championships placing ninth as the anchor leg of NC State’s 800 free relay, 15th overall in the 200 back and 16th overall in the 200 IM.
At the 2024 ACC Championships, the Cumberland native recorded three podium finishes as the leadoff of the Wolfpack’s second-place 800 free relay, second in the 200 back, third in the 200 free and fourth in the 200 IM.