York County native Hali Flickinger places 7th at Olympics

(Spring Grove) — In the end, there would be no Olympic medal for Spring Grove’s Hali Flickinger. At least not at this Olympics.

On Wednesday night, Flickinger would have to settle for the title of one of the best swimmers in the world.

The 22-year-old, in her first Olympics, placed seventh in the 200-meter butterfly.

The race came down to a two-woman race, every one else in the field scrambled for the final six spots. Spain’s Mireia Belmonte Garcia needed to finish in 2 minutes, 4.85 seconds to edge Australia’s Madeline Groves (2:04.88) for the gold medal.

Japan’s Natsumi Hoshi took the bronze in 2:05.20. And even a career-best time by the United States’ Cammile Adams (2:05.90), including a spirited final 50 meters, failed to put her on the podium.

Flickinger (2:07.71) placed seventh. One day after posting the fastest time of her career in the preliminaries, Flickinger couldn’t match her Tuesday-morning magic. But neither could the rest of the field. The final four racers in the field all posted times in the 2:07 range, with fractions of seconds separating fifth through eighth place.

“She was amazing,” her father Doug Flickinger wrote in a personal Facebook message.

At the end of her Olympics and her race, Hali Flickinger glanced across one lane to Team USA teammate Adams. Flickinger managed a smile before the two embraced.

“I’m just amazingly proud and happy for her,” said Flickinger’s youth coach Michael Brooks, who watched the race in York. “A lot of times Americans get wrapped up in the gold medal race. It’s easy to sit back and watch, but to get in front of literally billions of people after 15 years of training her guts out and do what she did — it’s pretty impressive.”

About 400 spectators, including some of her family and former teachers, flocked to Spring Grove Community Park to watch Flickinger swim in the final on a large outdoor screen.

“It means everything to see all these people come out, the atmosphere here today,” Hali Flickinger’s brother Chase Flickinger said. “I was a lot more nervous yesterday because I wanted her to make the finals. She did good. She’s the seventh best in the world, you couldn’t ask for more.”

Penny Gordon, a family friend added: “This is about celebrating her journey, and this is very likely not going to be her last Olympics. We expect to see her in several more Olympics. We believe in her and know she’ll have a super future.”

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There is a link, even though almost 70 years separate the first and last York County swimmers that have reached the Olympics. A common thread connects them.

It started with “little” Bob Sohl in 1948. It continued with Flickinger. They both swam for the York YMCA.

From the cramped quarters of the old pool located at the corner of Philadelphia and Newberry streets to the pristine accommodations at the Graham Aquatic Center located near Farquhar Park, it’s been a city where future champions trained.

They competed for the York YMCA before going off to bigger and better things.

Sohl, who the Gazette and Daily took to calling “little,” competed against Bill Schmidt on a daily basis during his first two years of high school. Schmidt, a 1942 William Penn graduate, held national high school and YMCA records in multiple events during his time at William Penn, with only the 12-year break in Olympic Games because of World War II likely keeping him from making his own Olympic team. Sohl came into his own after he transferred to swimming powerhouse Mercersburg Academy after his sophomore year at William Penn.

He would win bronze in 1948, completing a U.S.A. clean sweep in the breaststroke, and returned to swim at the University of Michigan.

Flickinger went to the University of Georgia. She never won an NCAA title at the individual level, but versatility had always been her calling card. She could pile up points in several disciplines, a key scorer during the Bulldogs’ run of three NCAA title teams in four years.

“I’m tremendously grateful and proud of the York Y,” said Brooks, who will be leaving the team in the coming weeks to coach North Carolina Aquatic Club in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and work part-time with the University of North Carolina. “We are a small team from a small town, yet we managed to develop swimmers that can go out and compete with the best swimmers in the world.”

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There is an uneasy silence in the call room at the Olympic Aquatics Center in Rio.

Racers rarely smile.

They wear headphones. They block out the surroundings, which for many is the biggest moment of their lives.

They reach for bottled water, and then some don’t even take a gulp.

They cover up, wearing pants and socks and sneakers and coats — all of which they must shed before the business end of the games kicks off.

It’s an odd scene to watch. All those nerves in one room. And then an athlete will turn and perform a favor for a competitor, like pulling the shoulder straps in place on the skin-tight suits of a competitor they will be locked against in the race of their lives in a few tense minutes.

For Flickinger, she opted not to arrive too early. She walked in to the room minutes after her U.S.A. teammate and team captain Adams.

When Flickinger did arrive, she sat in silence, only to stand and exchange a brief laugh with eventual silver medal winner Groves. Then Flickinger retreated to her own personal bubble, pulling her coat in tight with her arms and looking at the floor as the Kazakhstan national anthem played out in the stadium for the men’s 200-meter breaststroke medal ceremony.

As the big race neared, male swimmers began to peer into the room. Most of the women never notice, they sat in preparation for their race. The women continued to sit in silence.

They waited for their one big moment.

They waited for all the tension and pressure to be released in strokes and kicks they had practiced a million times.

They waited to race in the biggest race of their lives.

Minutes after the race had ended and Flickinger placed seventh, her father, Doug Flickinger, posted a picture of his daughter smiling in the pool in Rio.

“I want to say that I will never forget this moment and this face for the rest of my life,” he wrote. “… Thanks to everyone who helped make this possible.”

Matt Allibone contributed to this report.

This story is part of a partnership between WITF and the York Daily Record.