Highlighting the field are an array of Olympic medalists. Carly Piper (Grosse Point, Mich.), a member of the gold-medal-winning 800m free relay that broke the 17-year-old world record at the 2004 Olympic Games, is joined by three-time gold medalist Brooke Bennett (Tampa, Fla.). In addition, Maritza Correia (Valrico, Fla.), a 2004 silver medalist in the 400m freestyle relay, will continue her push for the 2008 Olympic Games in East Meadow. Correia, the first black American woman to qualify for an Olympic swim team, is currently training out of Raleigh, N.C. Correia is joined by 1996 Olympic silver medalist Alison Wagner (San Francisco, Calif.). Wagner won her Olympic medal in the 400m individual medley.
Swimming alongside the Olympic and national champions are 10 Long Island swimmers ranging in age from 14-26 and representing the Long Island Express and Long Island Aquatic Club. The early psyche sheet can be found at usaswimming.org/media. Local contenders include Kevin Wakefield, Yury Zimarev, Dan Demarko, Emily Kelly, Erica Derlath, Julia Festa, Tommy O’Neil, Sean Lane, Jack Wagner and Bobby Smith.
Omegatiming.com will carry live results from the competition. In addition, session summaries and other meet coverage can be found at usaswimming.org.
Preliminary heats for the women’s 800m freestyle and men’s 1500m free will be contested on Tuesday, March 27 beginning at 4 p.m. For the remainder of the meet, morning sessions will start at 9 a.m., with finals at 5:30 p.m.
About USA Swimming: As the National Governing Body for competitive swimming in the United States, USA Swimming formulates the rules, implements policies and procedures, conducts national championships, disseminates safety and sports medicine information and selects athletes to represent the United States in international competition. USA Swimming has more than 300,000 members nationwide and sanctions more than 7,000 events each year. For more information, visit USA Swimming on-line.
