RIO DE JANEIRO – Missouri State swimmer Uvis Kalnins concluded his trip to the Rio Olympic Games Wednesday, Aug. 10, placing fourth in heat one of the 200 individual medley prelims and finishing 24th overall.

"It meant a lot being able to represent my country and my school at the highest level of competition," Kalnins said. "Of course my feelings are bittersweet because I didn't accomplish what I wanted to, but overall I am happy that I was given the opportunity to compete at the Olympic Games."

The two-time, Latvian Olympian posted a time of 2:02.34 in the 200 IM, finishing behind Raphael Stacchiotti of Luxembourg (2:00.21), Yixuan Hu of China (2:00.70) and Emmanuel Vanluchene of Belgium (2:01.36) who would go on to compete in Wednesday evening's 200 IM semifinals.

"I was very proud of how Uvis did today," said Latvian Olympic and Missouri State head coach Dave Collins." His result might not have been what he hoped for, but he was competing with the world's best and doing it with pride and class. Both Latvia and the MSU community are lucky to have such a great ambassador for their programs."

Kalnins' list of achievements during his four seasons in Springfield is long and impressive. He was a two-time NCAA qualifier and a four-time All-MAC first-team selection, including 2016 MAC Outstanding Senior of the Year. He also earned Academic All-MAC honors three times, was named MAC Outstanding Swimmer of the Year in 2014 and earned CSCAA Individual Scholar All-American distinction his last three seasons. He was a five-time MAC Swimmer of the Week during his collegiate career and completed his career as the Missouri State record holder in the 200 IM, 400 IM, 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle events.

The men's 200 IM semifinals are set to begin tonight at 9:29 p.m. and the finals will take place on Thursday, Aug. 11, at 9:01 p.m.