USA Swimming Nationals: Emily Brunemann Represents Club Wolverine Well With Women’s 1500 Free Win

By John Lohn and Dana Lawrence Lohn

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, August 4. HAVING endured a grueling year, which included a full summer slate following the World Championships, world-record holder Kate Ziegler (15:42.54) opted to bypass her prime event. Ziegler already won the 400 and 800 freestyles this week and certainly deserved the rest, which opened the door for the competition.

Club Wolverine's Emily Brunemann welcomed the opportunity to step into the spotlight. The 20-year-old took the lead from the start and walked away with the national title in a personal-best time of 16:23.77. Brunemann was followed throughout the race by Kirsten Groome (First Colony), but Brunemann managed to add to her advantage with each lap. She really turned on the burners during the final 500 meters.

"It's been great training with Bob [Bowman] in the summer and Jim [Richardson] in the winter," said Brunemann. "And getting to train with Hayley [Peirsol] and Kalyn [Keller], because they push me in practice. I was really nervous here. I'm looking to do really well at NCAAs next year [Brunemann placed 4th in the 1650 in this year's competition]." She also noted the absence of perennial favorite Kate Ziegler in this event: "Throughout my taper, I thought she would swim it, so when [Club Wolverine assistant] Jon Urbanchek told me she wasn't, I was like, ooh!"

While Kirsten Groome was second in the final heat, with a time of 16:33.6, she took third place overall. In one of the earlier heats, Ashley Evans churned out a mark of 16:31.74, good enough to grab the silver medal. Whitney Sprague (North Carolina) registered a performance of 16:37.17 to collect fourth-place honors.

Click here to view event results PDF file.

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