Virginia Catholic high school swimmer wins world title in Montreal

Published: 2005-07-29

MONTREAL (CNS) -- A 17-year-old swimmer from a Catholic high school in Arlington, Va., captured her first world championship in Montreal July 26. Kate Ziegler, who attends Bishop O'Connell High School, swam the 1,500-meter freestyle in 16:00.41, which is the third fastest time on record. It is also only eight seconds slower than the world record held by Janet Evans and 26 seconds faster than the time Ziegler swam earlier in the preliminary round. "Yesterday my race felt awful," Ziegler told The Washington Post daily newspaper about her preliminary round in the 2005 swimming world championships. "I knew that just wasn't the way I usually swim it." Last summer Ziegler came up a few seconds short of making the U.S. Olympic swim team. She finished fifth in the finals of the 400-meter freestyle and fourth in the finals of the 800-meter freestyle at the U.S. Olympic time trials in Long Beach, Calif. Ziegler will be a senior in the fall at Bishop O'Connell.

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