US Olympic Trials, Day 7 Finals: Munz, Keller Sweep 800 Free; Bennett falls Short in Bid to Threepeat

By Phillip Whitten

LONG BEACH, July 13. FOR 2000 Olympic gold and silver medallists Brooke Bennett and Diana Munz, the 800m free was their last chance to punch their tickets to Athens.

The prognosis was not good, as both young women were swimming well off their best, while Kalyn Keller and Kaitlin Sandeno were on a roll.

Bennett, Munz and Keller all took the race out hard, but it was 16 year-old Kate Ziegler who led at 100 in 1:00.89. But the lead did not last long.

At 200 meters, it was Bennett and Munz turning first and second, separated by only one-hundredth of a second. Keller lurked only six-tenths of a second behind.
At 300 meters, Bennett had lengthened her lead to more than half a second over Munz, with Keller another three-tenths back.

Bennett maintained her lead at the halfway mark, turning in 4:12.09, as Keller overtook Munz and moved into second. Then Keller and Munz made their moves, going 1:02.83 and 1:02.93 for their fifth 100, while Bennett responded only with a 1:04.32. At the 600, Keller was clinging to a lead of just 6-hundredths over Munz, while Bennett was 1.2 seconds in arrears.

Munz forged in front of a grudging Keller at 650, while Bennett kept losing ground. For the next 150 meters, Munz and Keller went stroke-for-stroke, while Bennett was unable to muster the strength to challenge the leaders.

At the wall, it was Munz first in 8:26.06, with Keller in 8:26.33, the world’s second and third fastest times this year. Bennett finished in 8:29.39, just ahead of Ziegler, perhaps America’s next great distance star, at 8:30.92.

Diana Munz, top, just out-touched Kalyn Keller in the 800 Free.
(Photo: M. Collins)

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