Dancing Queen Sierra Schmidt Blasts 800 Free Pan American Games Record

Jul 18, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Sierra Schmidt of the United States dances on the pool deck before competing in the women's swimming 800m freestyle final during the 2015 Pan Am Games at Pan Am Aquatics UTS Centre and Field House. Mandatory Credit: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports

Photo Courtesy: Erich Schlegel/USA Today Sports Images

Coverage of the 2015 Pan American Games is sponsored by Triton Wear. Visit Swimming World’s event landing page for results and more!

USA’s Dancing Queen Sierra Schmidt blazed her way to a Pan American Games record in the women’s 800-meter free.

Schmidt, who is well known for her pre-start antics of putting on a dancing performance, went out hard and kept on going as she won the 800 in a personal best time of 8:27.54. That swim cleared her lifetime best of 8:28.91 and crushed Kaitlin Sandeno’s Pan Am Games mark of 8:34.65 from way back in 1999.

Schmidt’s time pushed her to 12th in the world rankings.

Schmidt is looking to battle the likes of Leah Smith for the second spot in the U.S. behind living legend Katie Ledecky in the distance freestyle events heading into the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials.

Kristel Kobrich of Chile, the defending champion, took silver with a time of 8:29.79.

Venezuela’s Andreina Pinto rounded out the podium with a third-place time of 8:31.08.

Canada’s Brittany MacLean (8:32.06), Bahamas’ Joanna Evans (8:37.18), USA’s Courtney Harnish (8:38.00), Brazil’s Bruna Veronez (8:40.75) and Mexico’s Monserrat Ortuno (8:45.81) rounded out the top eight in the timed final event with the final two coming from heat 1 this morning.

SCHEDULED EVENTS

Women’s 800 free
Women’s 200 IM
Men’s 200 IM
Men’s 1500 free
Women’s 400 medley relay
Men’s 400 medley relay

HEAT SHEETS

LIVE STREAM

LIVE RESULTS

Name*

Email*

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

Name*

Email*

1 Comment

Oldest

Newest Most Voted

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

Brian Murtaugh

8 years ago

Awesome go Sierra!!!