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Aemisegger, Four Men's Swimmers Lead Princeton Contingent To Olympic Trials
June 26, 2008 | Men's Swimming and Diving
Rising junior Alicia Aemisegger is a seven-time All-America honoree and the two-time Ivy League Championships Swimmer of the Meet. She has experienced both national and international successes, but she will race for the ultimate honor this Sunday night - a berth on the U.S. Olympic swimming team. Aemisegger is one of several swimmers who qualified for the Olympic Trials, which will be held at the Qwest Center in Omaha.
Aemisegger, Meredith Monroe and Courtney Kilkuts are all the current members of the Princeton women's swimming & diving team heading to Omaha this weekend. They will meet future teammates Jillian Altenburger and Caitlin Baran, two of the leaders in the highly-touted Class of 2012. From the men's side, Mike Carter, Dan Eckel, Colin Hanna and Will Schaffer will be competing at Trials.
Princeton's best shot at an Olympian will come on the opening night of Trials, when Aemisegger will compete in the 400 IM. The top two in each championship final qualify for the Olympic team, and Aemisegger qualified with the eighth best time in the nation (4:41.65). The competition will be fierce, considering one spot is likely to be earned by Katie Hoff, the current American record holder (4:32.89) and 2007 World Championships gold medal winner. Elizabeth Beisel, a 15-year-old from Bluefish Swim Club, qualified second in 4:36.75, while Stanford's Julia Smit qualified third in 4:38.58. In the 2006 NCAA championship 400 IM final, Aemisegger topped Smith by more than one second but fell to Auburn's Ava Ohlgren, the No. 6 qualifier for Trials.
Aemisegger also has the 10th-best qualifying time in the 200 IM (2:13.92) and the 17th-best time in the 800 free (8:41.51), and she has qualified for a handful of other events. Each swimmer has the option to compete in whatever events they qualify. Monroe qualified in both back competitions, while Kilkuts made it in the 200 IM. Altenburger also qualified in the 200 IM, while Baran qualified for the 200 breast.
On the men's side, both Hanna and Schaffer will race in the 200 IM, while Eckel will compete in the 200 fly and Carter will compete in the 100 free.
For television coverage information of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials, please click here.