BEIJING, China – Former Auburn swimmer Mark Gangloff earned a spot in the 100-meter breaststroke final after clocking a 1:00.44 in the semifinal Saturday night at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China.

Gangloff finished seventh overall in the semifinal, thereby earning one of the eight spots in the final that is scheduled for Sunday night’s program. The Buffalo, N.Y., native was tied for fifth at the turn after opening with a 28.42 in the first 50 meters, but the former Tiger came back in 32.02 to take third place in his heat.

Gangloff makes the cut after earning the final semifinal spot out of the preliminary. He swam a 1:00.71 in the preliminary session to take 16th place, just nine hundredths of a second out of 17th.

It will mark the second 100m breast Olympic finals appearance for Gangloff after he finished fourth in the event at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. Gangloff swam a time of 1:01.17 at the 2004 Games, barely missing out on a medal.