Harvard grad qualifies for Olympics

The Ivy League will be represented at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Alex Meyer, a 2010 graduate of Harvard University, guaranteed himself a spot in next summer’s Olympics after competing in the men’s 10-kilometer open water race at the FINA World Championships in Shanghai. Meyer’s top 10 finish — he had the fourth best time — made him the only American to qualify for the event.

The 10-kilometer race — an event that has earned a reputation as being a dangerous open water event — will take place in Serpentine Lake in London’s Hyde Park. Only 25 men and 25 women will eventually be selected to swim in the race.

According to ESPN, Meyer's friend and traveling roommate Fran Crippen drowned last October at the World Cup final in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. Meyer has continued to swim in his friend's memory.

Meyer, the men's national champion (runner-up Sean Ryan will be the other U.S. men's representative at worlds), said it still feels strange to go on trips without Crippen. He carries a photo of his friend everywhere he competes, and sometimes visualizes racing with Crippen during his pool training. "Just this morning, I was doing sprint sets across the diving well, and I imagined he was there, just a little bit ahead of me," Meyer said in a recent interview. "I guess he always was."

Meyer is a former Crimson swimming co-captain and All-American who holds the second-fastest time in school history in the 1,650 freestyle. Upon graduating, he began training for the open water competition and was able to earn gold at the open water world championships in Roberval, Quebec just two months later.