Kate Ziegler

Kate Ziegler

Personal information
Full name	Kate Marie Ziegler
Nationality	United States
Born	June 27, 1988 (1988-06-27) Great Falls, Virginia
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight	170 lb (77 kg)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Stroke(s)	Freestyle
Club	FAST Swim Team
College team	George Mason University
Medal record Women's swimming Competitor for the United States World Championships (LC) Gold 2005 Montreal 800 m freestyle Gold 2005 Montreal 1500 m freestyle Gold 2007 Melbourne 800 m freestyle Gold 2007 Melbourne 1500 m freestyle Silver 2011 Shanghai 1500 m freestyle Bronze 2011 Shanghai 800 m freestyle World Championships (SC) Gold 2006 Shanghai 400 m freestyle Silver 2004 Indianapolis 800 m freestyle Silver 2006 Shanghai 800 m freestyle Bronze 2006 Shanghai 4x200 m freestyle Bronze 2010 Dubai 800 m freestyle Pan Pacific Championships Gold 2006 Victoria 800 m freestyle Gold 2006 Victoria 1500 m freestyle Gold 2010 Irvine 800 m freestyle Silver 2010 Irvine 1500 m freestyle

Kate Marie Ziegler (born June 27, 1988) is an American long-distance swimmer. She currently holds the world record in the 1500-meter freestyle (long course).

She has won a total of fifteen medals in major international competition, eight golds, five silvers, and two bronze spanning the World and the Pan Pacific Championships.

Personal

Ziegler was born in Great Falls, Virginia in 1988, the daughter of Don and Cathy Ziegler. Ziegler graduated from Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School on June 1, 2006. Ziegler attended George Mason University and transferred to Chapman University in 2011.

High school career

At Bishop O'Connell H.S., Ziegler excelled throughout her 4 years, earning 4-time Washington Post All-Met honors, including being Swimmer of the Year on more than one occasion. As a freshman, she finished 3rd in the 200y freestyle (1:51.59) and won the 500 yd freestyle (4:47.78) at the 2003 Metros Swimming and Diving Championships, breaking the then-15-year-old record in the 500 held by Pam Minthorn. She also anchored O'Connell's 200y freestyle (24.51 split) and 400 yd freestyle (53.65 split) to 7th and 6th place finishes, respectively. The following year, as a sophomore, she won both the 200y freestyle (1:46.15) and the 500y freestyle (4:41.91) in record time, and anchored the winning 200y freestyle (24.14 split) and 3rd place 400 yd freestyle (51.63 split) relays. Her times continued to drop rapidly, and as a junior she again won both the 200y freestyle (1:45.43) and 500y 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 200y free (1:45.49) and breaking Janet Evans' USA Record in the 500y free (4:35.35).

2004-2005

At the 2004 Short Course Worlds, she finished second to Japan's Sachiko Yamada in the 800 m freestyle with a time of 8:20.55. Her 400 m split would have placed 4th in the event at the meet.

In February 2005, at the FINA World Cup stop in New York, Ziegler won the 800 m free in 8:16.32, breaking Sippy 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 m (8:25.31) and 1500 m (16:00.41) at the World Championships in Montreal. The latter time made her the third-fastest woman (and second 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 m at World Trials in Indianapolis with a time of 8:34.83. She failed to qualify in the 400 m, finishing 3rd in a time of 4:12.09.

2006-2008

At the 2006 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, she swam the 1500 in 15:55.01 making her the second fastest swimmer of all time in that event and the second person to break the sixteen minute mark. The third person was Hayley Peirsol who finished the event just 2 seconds later.

At the 2007 World Championships, she won the 800 meter and 1500 meter freestyles, to defend the titles she had won in 2005.

In 2008, Ziegler qualified for the Olympic Games by placing second to Katie Hoff in both the 400 m (4:03) and 800 m (8:23) freestyles. In Beijing, however, Ziegler failed to qualify for the finals in either event. (Notably, her best time in the 800 would have netted her a silver medal.)

External links

• Official website
• USA Swimming athlete bio: Kate Ziegler
• Kate Ziegler at the United States Olympic Committee
• George Mason University profile for Kate Ziegler
• Kate Ziegler collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Profile at sports-reference.com

Records
Preceded by Janet Evans	Women's 1500 metres freestyle world record holder (long course) June 17, 2007 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Laure Manaudou	Women's 800 metres freestyle world record holder (short course) October 12, 2007 – December 12, 2008	Succeeded by Alessia Filippi
Preceded by Laure Manaudou	Women's 1500 metres freestyle world record holder (short course) October 12, 2007 – November 29, 2009	Succeeded by Lotte Friis