Sarasota athletes set for Olympics

This summer's Olympic Games are planned in Tokyo, but they could be known as the Sarasota Games if everything breaks right for local athletes competing for a spot. 

Three athletes with Sarasota ties have already qualified for the Games, with more potentially qualifying this month. 

Sarasota Military Academy graduate Mary Tucker originally qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in  women's air rifle, but the games were put off a year, resetting the qualification process. Tucker, a sophomore at the University of Kentucky, has since qualified for the mixed team air rifle (10 meters) and, on May 26, the women's small-bore rifle three position (50 meters).

Former Sarasota Crew boys rower Clark Dean was named to the USRowing Olympic team on June 4. Dean, a junior at Harvard University, will compete in the men's four alongside teammates Michael Grady, Andrew Reed and Anders Weiss. The selection still has to be approved by United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, but that should be a formality.

Skateboarder Jake Ilardi, who still calls Sarasota home when not traveling the world for competitions or training, qualified for the Games in men's street skateboarding. Ilardi, 24, had been in good shape for qualification for months, but clinched his spot with a seventh place finish at the Street Skateboarding World Championships in Rome on June 6. He is one of three American skateboarders in the street competition alongside Jagger Eaton and Nyjah Houston, who is ranked No. 1 globally by World Skate. 

The second wave of the 2021 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials begins Sunday and includes former Riverview High swimmer Emma Weyant, who won the 400 IM at the 2019 National Championships (4:35.47), as well as a handful of other Sarasota swimmers. 

The Tokyo Olympic Games are scheduled July 23-Aug. 9.