Kate Ziegler

Last updated

Kate Ziegler
Personal information
Full nameKate Marie Ziegler
National teamFlag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Born (1988-06-27) June 27, 1988 (age 36)
Fairfax, Virginia, U.S.
Height6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight161 lb (73 kg)
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Freestyle
ClubFISH
Medal record
Women's swimming
Representing the United States
World Championships (LC)
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2005 Montreal 800 m freestyle
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2005 Montreal 1500 m freestyle
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2007 Melbourne 800 m freestyle
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2007 Melbourne 1500 m freestyle
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2011 Shanghai 1500 m freestyle
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2011 Shanghai 800 m freestyle
World Championships (SC)
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2006 Shanghai 400 m freestyle
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2004 Indianapolis 800 m freestyle
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2006 Shanghai 800 m freestyle
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2006 Shanghai 4×200 m freestyle
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2010 Dubai 800 m freestyle
Pan Pacific Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2006 Victoria 800 m freestyle
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2006 Victoria 1500 m freestyle
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2010 Irvine 800 m freestyle
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 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.

Contents

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 Forestville Elementary School in Great Falls, Virginia and Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School in Arlington County, Virginia. At 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.[ citation needed ]

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 Metros Swimming and Diving Championships, 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.[ citation needed ]

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).[ citation needed ]

Ziegler initially attended George Mason University, and later transferred to Chapman University in 2011.[ citation needed ]

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]

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

Related Research Articles

Matthew Nicholas Biondi is an American former competitive swimmer and water polo player. As a swimmer, he is an eleven-time Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder in five events. Biondi competed in the Summer Olympic Games in 1984, 1988 and 1992, winning a total of eleven medals. During his career, he set three individual world records in the 50-meter freestyle and four in the 100-meter freestyle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dana Vollmer</span> American swimmer (born 1987)

Dana Whitney Vollmer is a former American competition swimmer, five-time Olympic gold medalist, and former world record-holder. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, she won a gold medal as a member of the winning United States team in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay that set the world record in the event. Eight years later at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Vollmer set the world record on her way to the gold medal in the 100-meter butterfly, and also won golds in the 4×100-meter medley relay and 4×200-meter freestyle relay. She won three medals including a gold at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Vanderkaay</span> American swimmer

Peter William Vanderkaay is an American former competition swimmer who specialized in middle-distance freestyle events and is a four-time Olympic medalist. He was a member of the United States Olympic team in 2004, 2008, and 2012, and won bronze medals in the 200-meter freestyle at the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 400-meter freestyle at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Tiffany Lisa Cohen is an American former swimmer who was a double gold medalist at the 1984 Summer Olympics in the 400-meter and 800-meter freestyle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freestyle swimming</span> Category of swimming competition

Freestyle is a category of swimming competition, defined by the rules of World Aquatics, in which competitors are subject to only a few limited restrictions on their swimming stroke. Freestyle races are the most common of all swimming competitions, with distances beginning with 50 meters and reaching 1,500 meters, also known as the mile. The term 'freestyle stroke' is sometimes used as a synonym for 'front crawl', as front crawl is the fastest surface swimming stroke. It is now the most common stroke used in freestyle competitions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missy Franklin</span> American swimmer, Olympic gold medalist (born 1995)

Melissa Franklin Johnson is an American former competitive swimmer and five-time Olympic gold medalist. She held the world record in the 200-meter backstroke from 2012 to 2019. As a member of the U.S. national swim team, she also held the world records in the 4×100-meter medley relay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yannick Agnel</span> French swimmer (born 1992)

Yannick Agnel is a French former competitive swimmer who specialized in freestyle events, and is a three-time Olympic medalist. In his Olympic debut at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, he won gold in the 200-meter freestyle, gold in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay, and silver in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay. He is the current world record holder in the 400-meter freestyle, the European record holder in the 800-meter freestyle, and the national record holder in the 200- and 400-meter freestyle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katie Ledecky</span> American swimmer (born 1997)

Kathleen Genevieve LedeckyOLY is an American competitive swimmer. She has won nine Olympic gold medals and 21 world championship gold medals, the most in history for a female swimmer. With 14 medals and 9 gold medals, she is also the most decorated American woman, most decorated female swimmer, the woman with the most gold medals and fifth-most decorated athlete in Olympic history. She has won a record 16 individual gold medals at the World Aquatics Championships. Ledecky's 10 individual medals at the Olympics and 26 overall medals at the World Aquatics Championships are records in women's swimming‌. Ledecky is the world record holder in the women's 800- and 1500-meter freestyle, as well as the former world record holder in the women's 400-meter freestyle. She also holds the fastest-ever times in the women's 500-, 1000-, and 1650-yard freestyle events. She is widely regarded as the greatest female swimmer of all time and one of the greatest Olympians of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Megan Romano</span> American swimmer (born 1991)

Megan Romano is an American competition swimmer who specializes in backstroke and freestyle events. She is part of the current American record women's 4x100-meter freestyle relay team, and is the short-course yards American record-holder in the 200-yard freestyle and 4x200-meter freestyle relay. Along with her Georgia Bulldogs teammates, she won the NCAA Division I women's team championship in 2013.

Melanie Margalis is an American competitive swimmer who specializes in the freestyle, breaststroke and individual medley events. Margalis represented the Cali Condors which was part of the International Swimming League. She won a gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leah Smith (swimmer)</span> American swimmer (born 1995)

Leah Grace Smith is an American competition swimmer who specializes in freestyle events. Smith is a member of the 2016 US Women's Olympic Swimming team, and won a bronze medal in the 400 m freestyle and a gold medal in the 4 × 200 m relay at those games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Townley Haas</span> American swimmer (born 1996)

Francis Townley Haas is a retired American competitive swimmer who specialized in freestyle events. He is an Olympic gold medalist in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Haas competed collegiately for the University of Texas at Austin from 2015 to 2019 under head coach Eddie Reese where he was a 10-time NCAA Champion, a 17-time All-American, and a 3-time NCAA team champion. He is the former American record-holder in the 200-yard freestyle (1:29.50) and represented the Cali Condors in the International Swimming League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zach Apple</span> American swimmer (born 1997)

Zachary "Zach" Douglas Apple is a retired American competitive swimmer who specialized in the sprint freestyle events. He used to swim for DC Trident in the International Swimming League. He won his first Olympic gold medal in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay at the 2020 Summer Olympics, swimming in the prelims and the final of the event, and later in the same Olympic Games won a gold medal and helped set a new world record and Olympic record in the 4x100-meter medley relay, swimming the freestyle leg of the relay in the final.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Walsh</span> American swimmer (born 2001)

Alexandra Walsh is an American competitive swimmer. She is known for her versatility in all four strokes that has allowed her to have success in medley events. Growing up, Walsh was a phenom who started setting national age group records at 12 in 2014. She led her high school team to multiple state and national championships. At the 2019 Pan American Games, she won three gold medals.

Kieran Smith is an American swimmer specializing in freestyle and individual medley events. He currently co-holds short course world records in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay and the 4×100-meter medley relay. He is the Americas record holder in the long course 400-meter freestyle and the American record holder in the 500-yard freestyle. In the 400-meter freestyle, he won the bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics and the gold medal at the 2022 World Short Course Championships. Following a fourth-place finish in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay at the 2020 Summer Olympics, he won gold medals in the event at the 2021 World Short Course Championships, 2022 World Aquatics Championships, and the 2022 World Short Course Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torri Huske</span> American swimmer (born 2002)

Victoria "Torri" Huske is an American competitive swimmer and the reigning Olympic champion in the 100-meter butterfly. She holds world records in two relays: the 4x100-meter medley and 4x100-meter mixed medley. She is the former American record holder in the 50- and 100-meter butterfly.

Andrew Patrick “Drew” Kibler is an American competition swimmer specializing in freestyle events. He is a world record holder in the short course 4×200 meter freestyle relay and a former American record holder in the 4×200 yard freestyle relay. He won a gold medal in the 4×200 meter freestyle relay each at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships and the 2022 World Short Course Championships and placed fourth in the event at the 2020 Summer Olympics. He is an Olympic silver medalist in the 4x200 meter freestyle relay at the 2024 Paris Olympics. In the 200 meter freestyle, he took fourth-place at both the 2022 World Aquatics Championships and the 2022 World Short Course Championships. He is also a three-time NCAA champion in the 4×200 yard freestyle relay, winning NCAA titles in the event in 2019, 2021, and 2022.

Katherine Cadwallader Douglass is an American competitive swimmer. A versatile swimmer who competes in many events, Douglass won her first major international medal at the 2020 Olympic Games and won three medals at the 2022 World Championships. Douglass then won six medals, including two golds, at the 2023 World Championships. At the 2024 World Championships, she won five medals, including two golds. Douglass won four medals, including two golds, at the 2024 Olympic Games; she became the Olympic champion in the 200 m breaststroke.

Gretchen Walsh is an American competitive swimmer and the world record holder in the 100 meter butterfly, 4×100 medley relay, mixed gender 4×100 medley relay, and 100 meter IM. She won the silver medal in the 100 meter butterfly at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, where she also set the Olympic record in the 100 meter butterfly in the semifinals with a time of 55.38. She additionally holds one world junior record in the mixed gender 4×100 medley relay event, as well as American records in the 50 meter butterfly, 4×100 meter freestyle relay, 4×100 meter medley relay, 50 meter freestyle, 50 meter backstroke, 50 yard freestyle, 100 yard freestyle, 100 yard butterfly, 100 yard backstroke, 4×50 yard freestyle relay, 4×50 yard medley relay, 4×100 yard freestyle relay, and 4×100 yard medley relay.

Trenton Jeffrey Julian is an American competitive swimmer. He is a world record holder in the short course 4×200 meter freestyle relay and 4×100 meter medley relay. He won a gold medal in the 4×200 meter freestyle relay at the 2019 World University Games. He followed up with gold medals in the 4×200 meter freestyle relay at the 2021 World Short Course Championships, 2022 World Aquatic Championships, and 2022 World Short Course Championships. In the 4×100 meter medley relay, he won a world title and gold medal at the 2022 World Short Course Championships, swimming butterfly on each the prelims and finals relay.

References

  1. "7th FINA World Championships - 25m Indianapolis 2004" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 26, 2007. Retrieved July 24, 2007.
  2. 1 2 "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. 1 2 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.


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