The swim is back – and the third and final 2008 U.S. Olympic Triathlon Trials contest is a go in flood-threatened West Des Moines, Iowa.

Wednesday, Hy-Vee officials, USA Triathlon and race director Bill Burke got the news they were desperately hoping for.

The water level at new Hy-Vee race site Blue Heron Lake in West Des Moines’ Raccoon River Park is low enough and the bacteria readings in the lake were well within the safety range to hold a triathlon.

With readings back within officially mandated safe levels, Hy-Vee announced at 2 PM today that age group, junior and youth elites, and ITU World Cup elites competing for the $700,000 purse will all have the swim returned to their events during the Hy-Vee Triathlon festival this weekend.

But while all of those events could have changed into a run-bike-run duathlon to adapt to limitations wrought by recent flooding, the happiest parties were the athletes still in contention for the third men’s and women’s 2008 Olympic triathlon slots.

That's because rules set up by UASA Triathlon in cooperation the United States Olympic Committee mandated that all Olympic Triathlon Trials events must be a regulation swim-bike-run triathlon.

Had organizers been unable to set up a safe swim, the third US Olympic slots would have been chosen by tiebreakers.

On the men’s side, top contenders Andy Potts and Hunter Kemper were even in the first tiebreaker – each had a second and a third in the first two US Olympic Triathlon Trials events in Beijing and Tuscaloosa. The second tiebreaker was standings in ITU World Cup points. Potts would have won the slot on those criteria, since Kemper lost much of 2007 and 2008 to injuries.

Sarah Haskins, who placed second in each of the first two U.S. Olympic Triathlon Trials, would have won the tiebreaker over closest contender Sarah Groff.

On Saturday, Raccoon River Park shelters near Blue Heron Lake were nearly submerged under 10 feet of floodwaters, part of the great Iowa floods of 2008. But today, safety officials measured the bacteria count in Blue Heron Lake and found the water safe.

When the great floods hit Cedar Rapids and forced tens of thousands of citizens from their homes, Des Moines seemed relatively safe. But ultimately, the site of the 2007 Hy-Vee Triathlon swim at Grays Lake was under 20 feet of water and officials moved the triathlon site 7 miles away to West Des Moines. Two alternate swim sites near the new race finish line at Southwoods Freshman School were tried and dismissed because of high water.

Finally, the sun shone, the rain stopped, and Blue Heron Lake saved the day.