Olympians Soni, Shanteau and Hoff Join WEST's Heidi VanderWel to compete at Short Course Nationals (11/24/2009)

From USA Swimming: COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Top American swimmers, including members of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Swim Team, will compete at the 2009 AT&T Short Course National Championships, December 3-5. Among the swimmers expected to compete are U.S. Olympians Rebecca Soni (Plainsboro, N.J.), Margaret Hoelzer (Huntsville, Ala.), Eric Shanteau (Lilburn, Ga ), and Katie Hoff (Towson, Md.). The competition will be held at the Weyerhaueser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Wash. Additional Olympians competing at Short Course Nationals include Olympic gold medalists Garrett Weber-Gale (Milwaukee, Wis.) and Peter Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich.), World Championship silver medalist Tyler Clary (Riverside, Calif.), Olympic bronze medalist Caroline Burckle (Louisville, Ky.) and Worlds bronze medalist Kasey Carlson (Walnut Creek, Calif.). Jessica Hardy (Long Beach, Calif.), who just took home the FINA World Cup female title, will also swim in the meet. Japanese Olympic gold medalist Kosuke Kitajima, who won both the 100m and 200m breast at the 2008 Olympics, will be back in the water in Federal Way. The swimmer, who did not compete at the 2009 FINA World Championships, is currently training with the Trojan Swim Club in Los Angeles. Many top Seattle-area swimmers will also compete in Federal Way, including Olympians Nathan Adrian (Bremerton, Wash.) and Megan Jendrick (Tacoma, Wash.), and World Championship gold medalist and world record-holder Ariana Kukors (Auburn, Wash.), and Andie Taylor (Issaquah, Wash.). The meet will follow the traditional schedule of morning prelims and evening finals with the morning sessions starting each day at 9 a.m. Evening finals begin at 5 p.m. Five to seven events will be contested daily. Footage from the meet will air nationally on NBC on Saturday, December 12 from 2 – 3 p.m. ET. All three days of prelims and finals will also be available for viewing on-demand at http://www.swimnetwork.com/.

WEST Swimmers Score at WA State High School Championships!!

WEST was well represented at finals of the WA State High School Championships today down at King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.

The 2A/3A meet began the day with Katlyn Christenson (15 SRI) placing 5th in the consolation heat of the 200 IM and Kina Ackerman (18 SRI) placing 6th in that same 200 IM heat. Kina placed 7th in the consolation heat of the 500 freestyle. Katlyn placed 2nd in the consolation heat of the 100 breaststroke.

In 4A action Lou Moores (17 SRI) placed 3rd in the 50 freestyle and 5th in the 100 freestyle, ultimately WEST’s highest scoring at this meet. Mariah Williamson (16 SRI) placed 8th in the 500 freestyle and 6th in the consolation heat of the 200 freestyle. Kalena Laurent (15 SRI) placed 8th in the 100 fly and 6th in the consolation heat of the 500 freestyle. Danielle Holstein (18- happy Birthday!! SRI) placed 5th in the consolation heat of the 200 freestyle and 4th in the consolation heat of the 500 freestyle. Kaitlin Taylor (14 SRI) placed 4th in the consolation heat of the 100 fly. Also assisting their teams in scoring this weekend in relays were Karla Bensen (18 SRI) and Ellen Dean (17 SRI).

WEST swimmers added to their Senior Sectional (a WEST hosted meet in March) qualifying at this meet as well:
Kaitlin Taylor-- 100 fly
Kalena Laurent- 100 fly & 500 freestyle
Lou Moores- 50 & 100 freestyle
Mariah Williamson- 500 freestyle
Danielle Holstein- 500 freestyle