Breakout Swimming Stars
Both Whitney Myers (Oxford, Ohio / Arizona) and Cullen Jones (New Brunswick, N.J. / NC State Aquatics) have the potential to retain the title of Team USA's breakout stars in 2007. Myers turned heads in 2006 when she defeated U.S. teammate Katie Hoff in the 200m individual medley at Pan Pacs, narrowly missing Hoff's American record by six-hundredths. Jones gave the swimming community reason to buzz when he beat defending world champion Roland Schoeman of South Africa in the 50m free at Pan Pacs. Jones also became the first African-American swimmer to break a long-course world record as a member of the 400m free relay team that captured gold and brought the world record back to the USA for the first time since 2000. Both Myers and Jones earned year-end accolades at the 2006 Golden Goggle Awards. Myers took home Female Performance of the Year, and Jones won Breakout Performer of the Year and Relay Performance of the Year.
Keep An Eye On The Record
Olympian Katie Hoff (Towson, Md. / North Baltimore) has been threatening to break a world record for some time now, and this may just be the meet in which she finally takes one down. The 17-year-old, who has held the American record in the 200m IM since 2005, was within reach of that world mark twice in 2006, at both the ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships and the Mutual of Omaha Pan Pacific Championships. In Irvine, she was three-tenths ahead of world record pace in the 200m IM after the breaststroke leg, but couldn't hold on down the final stretch. Less than a month later in Victoria, both she and Myers were just under a half second ahead at the 150-meter mark, but neither could touch the wall in time.
A Day At The Beach
The American open water swimmers might spend the majority of their time in Australia at the beach, but don't think these four are working on their tans. They'll be working hard for medals in the three open water races.
Chloe Sutton (Sacramento, Calif. / California Capital) will be looking for her second international gold after winning the 10K at the Pan Pacifics last summer. U.S. teammate Kalyn Keller (Phoenix, Ariz. / Trojan), the 2004 Olympic pool swimmer turned open-water medalist, will also be in the hunt for medals after claiming silver in the 10K in Victoria.
On the men's side, Scott Kaufmann (Sparks, Nev. / Reno Aquatic Club) and Mark Warkentin (Santa Barbara, Calif. / Santa Barbara) will be the U.S. representatives. Kaufmann narrowly missed a medal in the 10K at Pan Pacs, finishing fourth. Warkentin won the 25K at the 2006 USA Swimming Open Water National Championships, in addition to finishing third in both the 5K and 10K. In 2005, the 10K open water event was officially added to the Olympic program for the 2008 Olympics.
All In The Family
Two sets of siblings will compete for Team USA at the World Championships: Aaron and Hayley Peirsol (Irvine, Calif.), and Klete and Kalyn Keller (Phoenix, Ariz.). All four swam on the same team at the Pan Pacific Championships last summer. Prior to that, the Peirsols last competed together at the 2003 World Championships in Barcelona, while the Kellers were both 2004 Olympians in Athens.
Ever Heard Of The Australian Open?
For the month of March, what is usually a tennis court will become a swimming pool. Rod Laver Arena watched as Roger Federer and Serena Williams took home Grand Slam titles in January at the Australian Open, but the venue will switch hats to host the pool swimming competition. More than 11,000 swimming-crazed Australian fans are expected to pack out the arena, which is named after one of Australia's great tennis heroes.
Watch It Because You Can
Why tune in to the World Championships this year? Simply because you can. USA Swimming is once again teaming with the World Championship Sports Network (WCSN) to provide live and on-demand coverage of all the action from Melbourne. WCSN will provide live coverage of the swimming finals starting on March 25 as well as coverage of open swimming, water polo, diving and synchro. Visit wcsn.com/swimming for the complete schedule.
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 usaswimming.org.
Swim On!
