Tao Li receives FINA invitation for Olympics

The Singapore Swimming Association (SSA) received an official invite on Wednesday night from FINA for Singapore swimming star Tao Li in the coming London Olympic women's 100m butterfly as one of the event's top "B" qualifiers. The 22-year-old, two-time Asian Games 50m fly champion, joins Florida-based Joseph Schooling as the two Singapore swimmers set the London Games, and brings Singapore's current athlete delegation to 16. A finalist in the event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Tao Li has struggled in recent years with injury and illness, and did not meet the "A" qualifying mark of 58.70secs. However, her efforts of 58.78 from last July's World Championships in Shanghai was well under the "B" benchmark of 1min 00.75sec which earned her the invite as the event's second-highest ranked "B" qualifier. The swimming programme for the London Games is capped at 900 swimmers, and under revised qualifying criteria, only "A" qualifiers are guaranteed of a spot, while "B" qualifiers depend on invites. "Many people have been asking me if I'm confirmed for the Olympics, and even though I knew that I would be going (as one of the top 'B' qualifiers), this is still a load off my mind," said Tao Li. "It will give me a lift knowing that this is settled, and I can continue concentrating fully on my training." With five weeks to the London Games, she is due to taper under coach Ian Turner's supervision. About 10 national swimmers have met the "B" timings, and more invites are expected in the coming weeks, but SSA president Jeffrey Leow said: "It is entirely up to FINA whether we will receive any more invites."