Riefenstahl Sizzles as Mid-Atlantic Champs Get Off to Quick Start

LEWISBURG, Pennsylvania, July 12. THE girls from Germantown Academy enjoyed a strong showing on the first day of the Mid-Atlantic Senior Long-Course Championships at Bucknell University. Katie Riefenstahl recorded a pair of meet records while Alicia Aemisegger, an Olympic hopeful for the 2008 Games in Beijing, also registered a meet standard.

Heading into her senior year at Germantown Academy, Riefenstahl set four meet records, as she established marks in the 200 backstroke and 50 freestyle in the preliminary session and in the championship finals. She won the 200 back at night with a record of 2:14.38, plenty faster than the 2:18.35 of Kelly Harrigan, a standout at Rutgers. Riefenstahl also won the 50 free with a record performance of 26.54.

As for Aemisegger, best known for her prowess in the individual medley events, she broke a record in the 100 breaststroke with a clocking of 1:12.07. That time lowered Aemisegger's prelim showing of 1:12.31, which bettered the 1997 record of Olympian Kristy Kowal (1:12.82). Aemisegger also took second place in the 800 freestyle, finishing just behind Leah Gingrich, a rising distance star from the West Shore YMCA. Coached by Michael Gobrecht, Gingrich rallied from behind on the last lap and won in 8:43.99, just ahead of the 8:44.18 of Aemisegger.

In other action, West Shore's Josef Kinderwater took top honors in the men's 800 free, as he turned in a meet record of 8:16.82. Suburban Swim Center's Justin Davidson was the winner of the 100 breaststroke (1:06.68) and Andrew Gemmell of the Delaware Swim Team won the 200 backstroke in 2:06.59. Greg Doughty (Sandhills) won the 50 free in 24.30.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x