Flash! Kate Ziegler Breaks 800, 1500 Free Short Course Meter World Records in German Swim Meet; Videos Included

ESSEN, Germany, October 12. ACCORDING to a post on the SG Essen web site, Kate Ziegler added to her world record total with a pair of short course meter global standards at the Alex Athletics Jubilaums Challenge in Essen, Germany.

Swimming in lane three during the second heat of the 1500 free, Ziegler captured the event's world record with a time of 15:32.90 to demolish the previous standard of 15:42.39 set by Laure Manaudou in La Roche-sur-Yon, France on Nov. 20, 2004. The performance also added the American record to Ziegler's bag by destroying the 15:49.14 set by Kalyn Keller at the NCAA Division I Championships in Texas on March 20, 2004.

Ziegler also clocked a time of 8:09.68 at the 800 free split to lower the previous standard of 8:11.25 set by France's Laure Manaudou in Trieste, Italy on Dec. 9, 2005. Ziegler's time in the event improved upon her American record of 8:12.19 set in East Meadow on Feb. 3, 2006.

Here are the complete splits for the record swim:
1. Kate Ziegler 1988 The Fish/USA 15:32,90 1063 WR
50m: 00:28,49 100m: 00:58,41
150m: 01:28,84 200m: 01:59,38
250m: 02:29,91 300m: 03:00,73
350m: 03:31,69 400m: 04:02,64
450m: 04:33,15 500m: 05:04,22
550m: 05:35,26 600m: 06:06,29
650m: 06:37,24 700m: 07:08,15
750m: 07:39,10 800m: 08:09,68
850m: 08:41,18 900m: 09:12,60
950m: 09:44,26 1000m: 10:16,00
1050m: 10:47,84 1100m: 11:19,67
1150m: 11:51,51 1200m: 12:23,45
1250m: 12:55,22 1300m: 13:27,01
1350m: 13:58,89 1400m: 14:31,13
1450m: 15:02,93

To read about the 800 and see her splits, Click Here

SG Essen also posted a pair of videos showing the world-record swim:

Click here for part I.

Click here for part II.

The records simply add to what has been a sterling year for Ziegler, the undisputed queen of distance swimming. In March, Ziegler walked away from the World Championships in Melbourne with repeat titles in the long-course versions of the 800 and 1500 freestyles. There, Manaudou also advanced to the final of the 400 freestyle.

Meanwhile, the summer brought her first world record when she sliced just under 10 seconds off Janet Evans' global standard in the 1500 free. Evans' world mark was the oldest on the books and Ziegler took a hatchet to the time. She then followed at the United States Nationals with crowns in the 400 and 800 freestyles.

Over the course of the year, Ziegler has also established herself as one of America's premier 200 freestylers and her presence on the U.S. 800 free relay at next year's Olympic Games in Beijing is a good bet. With her prowess from 200 through 1500 meters, Ziegler can be argued as the finest freestyler in the world, although Manaudou can also make that claim, what with her world marks in the 200 and 400 free events.

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