July 30, 2013
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Former Western Kentucky University swimmer and Olympian Claire Donahue finished eighth in the finals of the 100 butterfly at the FINA World Championships in Barcelona, Spain, on Monday, July 29.
Donahue finished the event in 58.30, her fastest time of the competition. She opened the World Championships with a time of 58.58 in the 100 fly prelims on Sunday to rank 10th overall while lowering her time to 58.44 in the semifinals that aired on NBC. USA's Dana Vollmer placed third for the highest American finish in the event at 57.24.
The Lenoir City, Tenn., native became just the second WKU Olympic athlete to earn a medal at the Summer Olympics and the first to ever claim a gold medal, as she swam in the butterfly leg of the preliminary heats of the 4x100 medley relay in London to help guide Team USA to the finals. A four-year letterwinner with WKU swimming, Donahue currently holds five different records at WKU, including two individual records in the 100 and 200 butterfly.
