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Aemisegger Reaches 400 IM Olympic Trial Final, Places Seventh In World Record-Setting Race
June 29, 2008 | Women's Swimming and Diving
Rising junior Alicia Aemisegger reached her first Olympic Trial final Sunday night at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb., and it turned out to be a race few will forget. In a nationally-televised showdown with the best IM swimmers in America, Princeton's swimming standout placed seventh overall and Katie Hoff set a world record in 4:31.12.
Aemisegger entered Sunday's 400 IM competition seeded eighth overall, but she qualified for the final with the seventh-best overall time of 4:42.72. That placed her in the championship session, which was televised live on NBC from 8-9 p.m. EDT. Championship sessions will air live from 8-9 p.m. all week, either on USA Network or NBC. The top two spots in each final receive Olympic berths, and those went to Hoff, whose brilliant final 200 meters pushed her from second place to the world record, and 15-year-old Elizabeth Beisel, who led at the midway point of the race and held off Stanford's Julia Smith by nearly three full seconds to grab the second spot.
Aemisegger, the two-time Ivy League Championships Swimmer of the Meet and seven-time NCAA All-America honoree, finished seventh overall in a time of 4:43.32. She moved between sixth and seventh throughout the race and ended as the seventh-fastest 400 IM swimmer in the nation. After qualifying for eight different Trials events, Aemisegger will have the chance to swim in another championship session later in the week. One potential opportunity will come Tuesday night, as she is currently seeded 10th in the 200 IM.