Kiel, Mortimer Stroke to Victory in 800 meter Free on Day One of US Nationals

By M. Duncan Scott

PALO ALTO, Calif. August 3. FIRST-time champions were crowned for both women and men on the first day of competition at the 2004 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming Summer National Championships in Palo Alto, California.

Alyssa Kiel, Lake Erie Silver Dolphins, is the women’s national champion at 800 freestyle in a PB 8:33.08 (4:15.08). Justin Mortimer, Mission Viejo, won the men’s event at 8:02.90 (4:01.79).

The meet began Tuesday at Stanford University’s Avery Aquatic Center. The Farm, as Stanford is affectionately called by its students, has been at the epicenter of American swimming for a good portion of the time since the Olympic Trials concluded in the parking lot in Long Beach, first as a training camp for the U.S. team at the front end of its Olympic journey and now as the host of the Summer Nationals. Next week it will host the NCSA Junior Nationals.

There are a couple of interesting parallels between the winners. Each is a teammate of the athlete that won the distance event at Trials and each was a finalist her- and himself in that event. Kiel finaled in the 800 at Trials, and her training partner is two-time Olympian Diana Munz; Mortimer was third in the 1500 at Trials and shared a set or two this summer with Larsen Jensen, who in Long Beach added the American record at 1500 meters to the 800 mark already on his resume.

Joining Kiel in the medals were another Trials finalist, Kate Ziegler, The Fish-PV, and 2000 Olympian Julia Stowers of Pilot-Knoxville TN. Official results are posted below for women’s swims below 8:50.00.

Ziegler (8:30.92, fourth at Trials) maintained her reputation for swimming on the lead by touching first at each split until the 600, and finished just .16 back from Kiel at 8:33.24.

Stowers had an encouraging swim as well. The 22 year old, who made the Sydney team off her fourth place finish in the 200 freestyle, had not been able to improve any of her seed times in her primary races this summer. Today she was third at 8:41.14, an improvement of over eight seconds on Long Beach and a lifetime personal best by over a second. Watch for her to have good swims at the 200 and 400 distances as well.

Mortimer took control over the last 200 meters, per his plan. His last 400 was faster than his first by about 2/3 second. He missed the Olympic team at 1500 freestyle by only 1.7 seconds after putting a closing rush on Erik Vendt.

Chris Thompson, Club Wolverine, (second, 8:04.92), pictured here, has provided drama to the world of swimming all summer. The 1500 meter bronze medalist from Sydney was one of three favorites for the two spots on this year’s team, along with qualifiers Jensen and Erik Vendt. A battle royale for the spots was expected. Unfortunately, earlier in the summer Thompson broke bones in both his arms while in Colorado Springs with his team at the Olympic Training Center. The time was too short, most felt, to even consider competing at the Trials.

Thompson not only competed, but was 11th after the qualifying round. After two finalists scratched and it was learned that the next alternate had already left for home, he found himself in the finals, where he finished a credible seventh. A couple of weeks later and he is medaling at Nationals. It will be interesting to see how far back his 1500 comes by the end of the meet and whether he can challenge the 15:11.96 with which Vendt made the U.S. team.

Results for the top 10 finishers are listed below. Full results are available through the link below.

There are 9:00 a.m prelims and 5:00 p.m. finals on each of the remaining meet days.

——————————–

Event 1 Women 800 LC Meter Freestyle
=========================================================================
World: W 8:16.22 8/20/1989 Janet Evans, USA
American: A 8:16.22 8/20/1989 Janet Evans, USA
U.S. Open: U 8:17.12 3/22/1988 Janet Evans, Fullerton
LC Nationals: M 8:17.12 3/22/1988 Janet Evans, Fullerton
Sum National: 8:56.29
Name Age Team Seed Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== Timed Finals ===

1 Kiel, Alyssa 17 Lake Erie Silver 8:35.74 8:33.08 20
29.99 1:01.87 (31.88)
1:33.90 (32.03) 2:06.17 (32.27)
2:38.32 (32.15) 3:10.62 (32.30)
3:42.70 (32.08) 4:15.13 (32.43)
4:47.18 (32.05) 5:19.61 (32.43)
5:51.99 (32.38) 6:24.80 (32.81)
6:57.11 (32.31) 7:29.65 (32.54)
8:01.83 (32.18) 8:33.08 (31.25)
2 Ziegler, Kate 16 The Fish-PV 8:30.92 8:33.24 17
29.45 1:00.96 (31.51)
1:33.12 (32.16) 2:05.22 (32.10)
2:37.52 (32.30) 3:09.61 (32.09)
3:41.99 (32.38) 4:14.37 (32.38)
4:46.56 (32.19) 5:19.29 (32.73)
5:51.84 (32.55) 6:24.73 (32.89)
6:57.28 (32.55) 7:30.04 (32.76)
8:01.98 (31.94) 8:33.24 (31.26)
3 Stowers, Julia 22 Pilot-Knoxville- 8:42.33 8:41.14 16
30.40 1:02.42 (32.02)
1:34.85 (32.43) 2:07.30 (32.45)
2:40.04 (32.74) 3:12.51 (32.47)
3:44.82 (32.31) 4:18.27 (33.45)
4:51.13 (32.86) 5:24.09 (32.96)
5:56.98 (32.89) 6:29.88 (32.90)
7:02.80 (32.92) 7:35.85 (33.05)
8:08.99 (33.14) 8:41.14 (32.15)
4 #VandenBerge, Samanth 15 Swim Pasadena-CA 8:51.81 8:46.30 15
31.03 1:04.26 (33.23)
1:37.83 (33.57) 2:11.22 (33.39)
2:44.56 (33.34) 3:17.74 (33.18)
3:51.26 (33.52) 4:24.43 (33.17)
4:57.59 (33.16) 5:30.78 (33.19)
6:03.88 (33.10) 6:36.85 (32.97)
7:09.85 (33.00) 7:42.49 (32.64)
8:15.09 (32.60) 8:46.30 (31.21)
5 Sprague, Whitney 17 Badger Swim Club 8:54.77 8:46.47 14
30.80 1:03.27 (32.47)
1:35.66 (32.39) 2:08.88 (33.22)
2:41.93 (33.05) 3:14.79 (32.86)
3:48.00 (33.21) 4:21.06 (33.06)
4:54.24 (33.18) 5:27.45 (33.21)
6:01.13 (33.68) 6:34.37 (33.24)
7:08.00 (33.63) 7:41.11 (33.11)
8:14.50 (33.39) 8:46.47 (31.97)
6 Brooks, Margot 16 Lake Erie Silver 8:48.48 8:47.92 13
31.13 1:04.56 (33.43)
1:37.67 (33.11) 2:10.57 (32.90)
2:43.37 (32.80) 3:16.54 (33.17)
3:49.75 (33.21) 4:22.97 (33.22)
4:56.32 (33.35) 5:29.84 (33.52)
6:03.39 (33.55) 6:36.63 (33.24)
7:10.12 (33.49) 7:43.51 (33.39)
8:16.69 (33.18) 8:47.92 (31.23)
7 Ditto, Kelsey 15 Longhorn Aquatic 8:41.78 8:48.11 12
30.30 1:02.63 (32.33)
1:35.52 (32.89) 2:08.55 (33.03)
2:41.72 (33.17) 3:15.21 (33.49)
3:48.61 (33.40) 4:22.01 (33.40)
4:55.40 (33.39) 5:29.17 (33.77)
6:02.48 (33.31) 6:36.15 (33.67)
7:09.73 (33.58) 7:43.21 (33.48)
8:16.02 (32.81) 8:48.11 (32.09)
8 Sun, Sara 15 Swim Pasadena-CA 8:49.70 8:48.38 11
30.87 1:04.39 (33.52)
1:38.47 (34.08) 2:12.12 (33.65)
2:45.50 (33.38) 3:18.98 (33.48)
3:52.65 (33.67) 4:26.39 (33.74)
4:59.74 (33.35) 5:32.64 (32.90)
6:05.59 (32.95) 6:38.57 (32.98)
7:11.12 (32.55) 7:43.96 (32.84)
8:16.89 (32.93) 8:48.38 (31.49)
9 Hayter, Blake 16 North Coast Aqua 8:48.65 8:48.40 9
30.90 1:04.23 (33.33)
1:37.60 (33.37) 2:10.88 (33.28)
2:43.81 (32.93) 3:16.95 (33.14)
3:49.96 (33.01) 4:23.19 (33.23)
4:56.29 (33.10) 5:29.94 (33.65)
6:03.29 (33.35) 6:36.96 (33.67)
7:10.16 (33.20) 7:43.68 (33.52)
8:16.26 (32.58) 8:48.40 (32.14)
10 Stanford, Amanda 24 Sun Devil Aquati 8:48.81 8:48.98 7
30.91 1:04.25 (33.34)
1:37.82 (33.57) 2:11.39 (33.57)
2:44.98 (33.59) 3:18.66 (33.68)
3:52.21 (33.55) 4:25.85 (33.64)
4:59.52 (33.67) 5:33.12 (33.60)
6:06.48 (33.36) 6:39.80 (33.32)
7:12.39 (32.59) 7:44.80 (32.41)
8:16.91 (32.11) 8:48.98 (32.07)

Event 2 Men 800 LC Meter Freestyle
=========================================================================
World: W 7:39.16 7/24/2001 Ian Thorpe, AUS
American: A 7:48.09 7/25/2003 Larsen Jensen, USA
U.S. Open: U 7:50.28 8/10/1995 Daniel Kowalski, AUS
LC Nationals: M 7:52.45 7/27/1987 Sean Killion, Jersey Wahoos
Sum National: 8:24.29
Name Age Team Seed Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== Timed Finals ===

1 Mortimer, Justin 22 Mission Viejo-CA 7:58.04 8:02.90 20
28.31 58.69 (30.38)
1:28.92 (30.23) 1:59.32 (30.40)
2:29.82 (30.50) 3:00.07 (30.25)
3:31.08 (31.01) 4:01.79 (30.71)
4:32.18 (30.39) 5:02.59 (30.41)
5:33.18 (30.59) 6:03.97 (30.79)
6:33.73 (29.76) 7:04.55 (30.82)
7:33.82 (29.27) 8:02.90 (29.08)
2 Thompson, Christopher 25 Club Wolverine-M 8:08.27 8:04.92 17
28.79 58.72 (29.93)
1:29.01 (30.29) 1:59.59 (30.58)
2:30.08 (30.49) 3:00.74 (30.66)
3:31.44 (30.70) 4:02.23 (30.79)
4:32.63 (30.40) 5:03.24 (30.61)
5:33.76 (30.52) 6:04.63 (30.87)
6:35.25 (30.62) 7:05.97 (30.72)
7:36.52 (30.55) 8:04.92 (28.40)
3 Patton, Matthew 17 Mecklenburg-NC 8:16.20 8:05.63 16
28.51 59.46 (30.95)
1:30.41 (30.95) 2:01.21 (30.80)
2:31.88 (30.67) 3:02.68 (30.80)
3:33.36 (30.68) 4:03.92 (30.56)
4:34.55 (30.63) 5:04.92 (30.37)
5:35.19 (30.27) 6:05.27 (30.08)
6:35.87 (30.60) 7:06.04 (30.17)
7:36.14 (30.10) 8:05.63 (29.49)
4 *Rouault, Sebastian 18 France 8:05.57 8:06.63 15
27.96 58.20 (30.24)
1:28.90 (30.70) 2:00.17 (31.27)
2:30.62 (30.45) 3:01.26 (30.64)
3:31.80 (30.54) 4:02.43 (30.63)
4:32.61 (30.18) 5:03.31 (30.70)
5:33.66 (30.35) 6:04.39 (30.73)
6:34.38 (29.99) 7:05.28 (30.90)
7:35.67 (30.39) 8:06.63 (30.96)
5 #Sprang, Christian 17 Gloucester Cnty- 8:14.74 8:10.08 14
28.38 58.75 (30.37)
1:29.42 (30.67) 2:00.48 (31.06)
2:31.13 (30.65) 3:02.15 (31.02)
3:32.10 (29.95) 4:02.58 (30.48)
4:33.50 (30.92) 5:04.36 (30.86)
5:35.15 (30.79) 6:06.35 (31.20)
6:37.50 (31.15) 7:09.10 (31.60)
7:40.14 (31.04) 8:10.08 (29.94)
6 Jaben, Max 18 Kansas City Blaz 8:16.44 8:11.12 13
28.43 58.79 (30.36)
1:29.73 (30.94) 2:00.63 (30.90)
2:30.84 (30.21) 3:03.19 (32.35)
3:34.45 (31.26) 4:05.52 (31.07)
4:36.47 (30.95) 5:07.30 (30.83)
5:38.20 (30.90) 6:08.63 (30.43)
6:39.20 (30.57) 7:09.91 (30.71)
7:40.64 (30.73) 8:11.12 (30.48)
7 Stovall, Walter 16 Memphis Tiger-SE 9:11.69Y 8:11.49 12
27.91 57.78 (29.87)
1:28.32 (30.54) 1:58.71 (30.39)
2:29.37 (30.66) 3:00.29 (30.92)
3:31.26 (30.97) 4:02.44 (31.18)
4:33.33 (30.89) 5:04.37 (31.04)
5:35.93 (31.56) 6:07.28 (31.35)
6:37.48 (30.20) 7:10.63 (33.15)
7:34.98 (24.35) 8:11.49 (36.51)
8 Klueh, Michael 17 Longhorn Aquatic 8:04.97 8:12.50 11
28.06 58.01 (29.95)
1:28.40 (30.39) 1:59.03 (30.63)
2:29.76 (30.73) 3:00.48 (30.72)
3:31.26 (30.78) 4:02.22 (30.96)
4:32.79 (30.57) 5:03.83 (31.04)
5:35.02 (31.19) 6:06.31 (31.29)
6:38.17 (31.86) 7:09.89 (31.72)
7:41.41 (31.52) 8:12.50 (31.09)
9 Peterson, Charles 16 Carteret Current 8:15.86 8:14.33 9
28.06 58.00 (29.94)
1:28.78 (30.78) 1:59.90 (31.12)
2:30.75 (30.85) 3:02.04 (31.29)
3:33.44 (31.40) 4:04.79 (31.35)
4:35.86 (31.07) 5:07.39 (31.53)
5:38.72 (31.33) 6:09.48 (30.76)
6:40.99 (31.51) 7:11.96 (30.97)
7:43.60 (31.64) 8:14.33 (30.73)
10 Koehler, John 18 Dayton Raiders-O 8:17.06 8:15.25 7
27.79 57.98 (30.19)
1:28.61 (30.63) 1:59.79 (31.18)
2:30.98 (31.19) 3:02.27 (31.29)
3:33.21 (30.94) 4:03.99 (30.78)
4:35.28 (31.29) 5:06.60 (31.32)
5:37.89 (31.29) 6:09.56 (31.67)
6:40.84 (31.28) 7:12.48 (31.64)
7:44.01 (31.53) 8:15.25 (31.24)

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