Fratesi Represents Sault Well

She may not be bringing any medals home from the 2004 Summer Olympic games in Athens, but local swimmer Jennifer Fratesi managed to represent both herself and her hometown well as she wrapped up her Olympic races early this morning.

Competing in the 4x100 metre medley for Canada, the relay team finished out of contention for the finals after placing sixth in their heat, which ultimately placed them No. 11 overall. Spain, China, Germany, Australia, USA, Great Britain, Japan, and Netherlands all advanced.

Early on Thursday morning, Fratesi, came within .02 second of earning herself a spot in the women’s 2000-metre backstroke final. After moving on to the semi-final by placing seoncd in her starting heat with a time of 2:13.00, while the winner of her heat, American swimmer Margaret Hoelzer finished the heat with a time of 2:12.55.

In the semi-finals, the top eight swimmers moved on to the finals and Fratesi finished in ninth spot, just .02 second out of eighth. Stanislava Komarova had the top time in the semis finishing the race in 2:09.62.

Fratesi finished her heat just behind Katy Sexton of Great Britain who finished with a time of 2:12.62 while Fratesi finished with a time of 2:12.64.

The two events cap off Fratesi’s events in the pool at the 2004 games, which has been disappointing when it comes to the Canadian effort in the pool, where Canada has yet to medal.