RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, July 23. WHILE the United States delivered strong showings across the board at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, a particular threesome provided considerable promise for the future: Kathleen Hersey, Teresa Crippen and Caitlin Leverenz. There's a strong chance that at least one of the athletes, perhaps all three, will be members of the United States squad that competes next summer at the Olympic Games in Beijing.<\/p>\n
Hersey was golden throughout the week, claiming gold medals in three individual events. Aside from besting the competition in the 400 individual medley, Hersey doubled in the butterfly events, with her 200 fly mark of 2:07.64 instantly making the 17-year-old a top contender for an Olympic berth in the event, along with headliner Kim Vandenberg. At the World Champs earlier this year, Vandenberg earned a silver medal in the 200 fly.<\/p>\n
As for Crippen, the multi-talented 17-year-old set a Pan American Games record of 2:10.57 en route to winning the gold medal in the 200 backstroke. That victory complemented a silver medal earlier in the competition in the 400 I.M. When the Olympic Trials are held in Omaha next summer, look for Crippen to also make significant noise in the 200 butterfly. Her range is an obvious strength and will provide options at the Olympic Trials.<\/p>\n
Then there is Leverenz, who has been rocketing up the breaststroke ranks rapidly. The 16-year-old won gold in Brazil in the 200 breaststroke, thanks to a time of 2:25.62. Heading into the Olympic Trials, it can be argued that Leverenz is the top contender for an Olympic berth in the 200 breast. If nothing else, she's one of the top challengers and equally skilled in the individual medley disciplines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, July 23. WHILE the United States delivered strong showings across the board at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, a particular threesome provided considerable<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world","category-zzzzzzzzz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n