Aug. 13, 2008

BEIJING - Day five of the Olympics for California Golden Bear athletes was highlighted by two swimming medals in women's swimming - silver for Sara Isakovic in the 200-meter freestyle and bronze for Natalie Coughlin in the 200-meter individual medley.

Coughlin, Cal's legendary star, won her eighth career Olympic medal with a bronze in the 200 IM in 2:10.34. Isakovic, an incoming freshman who swims for Slovenia, won a silver medal in the 200 free, finishing in 1:54.97. Isakovic's time was under the previous world mark of 1:55.52 and was just 0.15 seconds behind winner Federica Pellegrini of Italy, who set a world record with a time of 1:54.82.

Dominik Meichtry, a 2008 Cal graduate, was eighth in his semifinal heat of the 100 free in 49.58 but did not qualify for the final. Earlier in the Beijing Games, he placed sixth in the 200 free.

Hong Kong's Hannah Wilson, who will be a sophomore at Cal in 2008-09, finished first in her qualifying heat of the 100 free at 55.32, which was 0.29 faster than the second-place finisher, but did not advance to the semifinals. Coughlin also took first in her 100 free heat in 53.82 and will swim in the semis Wednesday at 7:07 p.m. PT.

Croatian Gordan Kozulj, another former Bear, finished third in his qualifying heat of the 200 backstroke at 1:57.81. His time placed him eighth overall and he will swim in the semifinals Wednesday at 7:18 p.m. PT.

Martin Liivamagi of Estonia did not advance in the 200 IM after finishing eighth in his heat at 2:03.56. Miguel Molina, who is representing the Philippines, took second in his qualifying heat of the 200 IM in 2:01.61, but will not move on to the semifinals.

Lauren Boyle, a 2008-09 Cal junior, and the New Zealand relay team were swimming well in the 4x200 free heat, but the officials ruled that fourth swimmer Natasha Hind had began her leg of the relay earlier than the three-hundredths of a second grace they are allowed. Hind's mistake disqualified the New Zealand team from advancing.

Former Bear Scott Frandsen, who is rowing for Canada with partner David Calder, finished first in the semifinals of the men's pair at 1:34.54. Frandsen and Calder will try for gold Aug. 16.

Former Bear Elliot Hovey and U.S. partner Wes Piermarini defeated the Iraq boat in the C final of the men's double sculls by a time of 6:33.15 to 6:52.02. In men's field hockey, Canada lost to Pakistan, 3-1, on Wednesday. Canada, which is assisted by Cal women's assistant coach Peter Milkovich, will play Great Britain on Sunday.

Former Bear Heather Petri added a goal for the USA women's water polo team against Italy. The Americans tied Italy, 9-9, and are still in contention for winning Group A. The USA will play Russia on Friday.

Serbian and former Cal rower Iva Obravodic finished sixth in her heat of the single scull semifinals. While she will not advance to the championship final, Obravodic will compete in the women's single scull B final, which is scheduled for Thursday at 1:50 a.m. PT.

The USA softball team won its second game of the preliminaries, defeating Australia, 3-0. The team, including former Bear Vicky Galindo, will play Canada on Wednesday at 9 p.m. PT.