Monday, August 24, 1998
Swimming Briefs
UCLA junior Keiko Price placed fourth in the 100-meter freestyle
last week at the U.S. summer nationals and subsequently qualified
for international competition.
Price clocked in at 56.40 seconds, behind swimming veterans
Jenny Thompson (55.53), Ashley Tappin (56.08) and Liesl Kolbisen
(56.25). Price is the only current collegiate swimmer of the top
five sprinters.
With her fourth-place finish, Price qualified for 1999
Pan-Pacific Championships which will be held at Sydney, Australia.
She will represent the United States as a member of the 400-meter
free relay team.
"My goal was to make top eight in the 100-meter free and the
Pan-Pacifics so I was happy with fourth place," Price said.
The long course nationals differs from collegiate swimming
competitions in that the NCAA uses 25-yard (22.75 m) pools for swim
meets as opposed to the 50-meter pools. Long course is the official
pool of most international competitions including the Olympics.
Aiming for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Price has been
consistently training in the long course pool as well as the short
course pool. Her recent accomplishment is an improvement from her
last year’s placing of No. 10 (56.98) in the same event.
Price is making a steady climb in international competitions.
Last summer, she participated in the World University Games in
Sicily, Italy, and helped Team USA win the 400 free relay. The
Pan-Pacifics will be a tougher atmosphere with faster swimmers.
"This is a big meet to make," UCLA head coach Gallagher said of
the Pan-Pacs. "We still have some work to do on some details but
for her to be fourth at the nationals is a great step."Keiko
Price