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OMAHA, NE - South Carolina junior swimmer Michael Flach’s run in the 200 butterfly at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials came to an end on Thursday night as he finished eighth in the finals at the CenturyLink Center.

Flach swam a time of 1:59.43 to record one of the best finishes ever by a South Carolina swimmer at the U.S. Trials.  Flach fell short of claiming one of two spots on the U.S. Olympic team, which went to Michael Phelps and Tyler Clary.

Flach, who took an Olympic redshirt this season to focus all of his training on the Trials, became the first Gamecock swimmer to make the finals since South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Wade King, who finished fifth in the 100 butterfly at the 1988 Trials.

A native of Annandale, Va., Flach will swim in his final event at the Trials on Saturday when he takes the blocks in the preliminaries of the 100 butterfly.

Carolina has three swimmers slated to swim in Friday’s preliminaries. Rising junior Rachael Schaffer will swim in the 200 breaststroke. On the men’s side, rising junior Matt Navata and former Gamecock Kyle Cormier will compete in the 200 IM.

(Information from USC Sports Information contributed to this report.)