Kate Ziegler

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Kate Ziegler
Personal information
Full nameKate Marie Ziegler
National team United States
Born (1988-06-27) June 27, 1988 (age 33)
Fairfax, Virginia, U.S.
Height6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight161 lb (73 kg)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle
ClubFISH
Medal record
Women's swimming
Representing the United States
World Championships (LC)
Gold medal – first place 2005 Montreal 800 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2005 Montreal 1500 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2007 Melbourne 800 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2007 Melbourne 1500 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2011 Shanghai 1500 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Shanghai 800 m freestyle
World Championships (SC)
Gold medal – first place 2006 Shanghai 400 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2004 Indianapolis 800 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2006 Shanghai 800 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2006 Shanghai 4×200 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Dubai 800 m freestyle
Pan Pacific Championships
Gold medal – first place 2006 Victoria 800 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2006 Victoria 1500 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2010 Irvine 800 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2010 Irvine 1500 m freestyle

Kate Marie Ziegler (born June 27, 1988) is an American competition swimmer who specializes in freestyle and long-distance events. Ziegler has won a total of fifteen medals in major international competition, including eight golds, five silvers, and two bronzes spanning the World Aquatics and the Pan Pacific Championships. She was a member of the 2012 United States Olympic team, and competed in the 800-meter freestyle event at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Early years[]

Ziegler was born in 1988 in Fairfax, Virginia, the daughter of Don and Cathy Ziegler. She was a part of a local swim team, FISH, where she was coached under Ray Benecki. She attended Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School in Arlington County, Virginia, a Washington, D.C. suburb. At Bishop O'Connell, she excelled throughout her four years, earning Washington Post All-Met honors four straight years, including being named Swimmer of the Year on more than one occasion. As a freshman, she finished third in the 200-yard freestyle (1:51.59) and won the 500-yard freestyle (4:47.78) at the 2003 , breaking the 15-year-old record in the 500 held by Pam Minthorn. She also anchored O'Connell's 200-yard freestyle relay (24.51 split) and 400-yard freestyle relay (53.65 split) to seventh and sixth-place finishes, respectively. As a sophomore the following year, she won both the 200-yard freestyle (1:46.15) and the 500-yard freestyle (4:41.91) in record time, and anchored the winning 200-yard freestyle relay (24.14 split) and third place 400-yard freestyle relay (51.63 split). Her times continued to drop rapidly, and as a junior she again won both the 200-yard freestyle (1:45.43) and 500-yard freestyle (4:37.67) in record time, the latter being an independent national high school record. As a senior, she continued to excel, tying the national high school record in the 200-yard freestyle (1:45.49) and breaking the American record held by Janet Evans in the 500-yard freestyle (4:35.35).

Ziegler initially attended George Mason University, and later transferred to Chapman University in 2011.

International career[]

2004-05[]

At the 2004 Short Course Worlds, she finished second to Japan's Sachiko Yamada in the 800-meter freestyle with a time of 8:20.55. Her 400-meter split would have placed fourth in the event at the meet.[1]

In February 2005, at the FINA World Cup stop in New York, Ziegler won the 800-meter freestyle in 8:16.32, breaking Cynthia Woodhead's 25-year-old American record, which at the time was the oldest American record on the books.

In 2005, Ziegler won the 800-meter freestyle (8:25.31) and 1,500-meter freestyle (16:00.41) at the World Championships in Montreal. The latter time made her the third-fastest woman (and second-fastest American) in the history of the event, following only world-record holder Janet Evans's 15:52.10 and German Hannah Stockbauer's 16:00.18. She qualified for Worlds after winning the 800-meter freestyle at World Trials in Indianapolis with a time of 8:34.83. She failed to qualify in the 400-meter freestyle, finishing third in a time of 4:12.09.

2006-08[]

At the 2006 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, she swam the 1,500-meter freestyle in 15:55.01, making her the second fastest swimmer of all time in that event and only the second person to break the sixteen-minute mark. The third person was Hayley Peirsol who finished the event just two seconds later.

In 2007, at an in-season meet, Ziegler broke Janet Evans's longstanding world record in the 1500-meter freestyle with a time of 15:42.54. It stood for six years until Katie Ledecky broke the record in 2013.

At the 2007 World Championships, she won the 800-meter freestyle[2] and 1,500-meter freestyle,[2] to defend the titles she had won in 2005.[3]

In 2008, Ziegler qualified for the Olympic Games by placing second to Katie Hoff in both the 400-meter (4:03.92) and 800-meter (8:25.38) freestyle events. At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, however, Ziegler failed to qualify for the finals in either event. Notably, her best time in the 800-meter would have netted her a silver medal.[4]

2009[]

2010-11[]

2012 Summer Olympics[]

At the 2012 United States Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, Ziegler made the U.S. Olympic team for the second time by placing second behind Katie Ledecky in the 800-meter freestyle with a time of 8:21.87.[5] She also competed in the 400-meter freestyle and finished seventh in the final (4:09.17).[6]

At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Ziegler swam in the fastest qualifying heat of 800-meter freestyle and posted a time of 8:37.38, behind Rebecca Adlington of the United Kingdom and Lauren Boyle of New Zealand. Only the top eight swimmers of all five qualifying heats advanced to the 800-meter finals (with 8:27.15 as the slowest times of those eight), and Ziegler did not advance.[4]

2015[]

In May, Ziegler returned to competition after a two-year break.[7]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "7th FINA World Championships - 25m Indianapolis 2004" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 26, 2007. Retrieved July 24, 2007.
  2. ^ a b "12th FINA World Championships". Archived from the original on June 6, 2007. Retrieved June 9, 2007.
  3. ^ "Montreal 2005 Results". Archived from the original on January 28, 2007. Retrieved June 9, 2007.
  4. ^ a b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Kate Ziegler". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on December 4, 2016.
  5. ^ "2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials (swimming) – Women's 800-metre freestyle (final)". Omega Timing. Archived from the original on May 23, 2013. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
  6. ^ "2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials (swimming) – Women's 400-metre freestyle (final)". Omega Timing. Archived from the original on June 30, 2012. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
  7. ^ Zaccardi, Nick (May 13, 2015). "Kate Ziegler returns from 2-year swimming break, by way of Alaska, Australia". NBC Sports. Retrieved December 11, 2015.

External links[]


Records
Preceded by Women's 1,500-meter freestyle
world record-holder (long course)

June 17, 2007 – July 30, 2013
Succeeded by
Preceded by Women's 800-meter freestyle
world record-holder (short course)

October 12, 2007 – December 12, 2008
Succeeded by
Preceded by

Laure Manaudou
Women's 1,500-meter freestyle
world record-holder (short course)

October 12, 2007 – November 29, 2009
Succeeded by


Retrieved from ""