Sophomore Kim Vandenberg simply will not stop getting better.
The Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year in 2003 opened the swimming and
diving season Nov. 8 by swimming the 200m butterfly in 2:11.82, an
NCAA “A-standard” qualifying time.
Then, when the Bruin team took a road trip to Arizona for a pair
of away dual meets, she bettered her time by a half-second, winning
the 200m fly in 2:11.32. Vandenberg was not satisfied, however, and
on Nov. 22, she swam her event in 2:08.11, good enough to win the
Texas A&M Fall Invitational. At this point, Vandenberg had the
fastest 200m fly time in the nation.
Obviously no one told the sophomore that she could relax. This
past weekend in Federal Way, Wash., Vandenberg and 10 other Bruins
competed in a 900-athlete field at the U.S. Open. The Open, held at
the Weyerhaeuser-King County Aquatic Center, is a
long-course-meters tournament used as an Olympic qualifier.
Vandenberg was UCLA’s top performer, winning the 200m fly in
2:11.29, a personal-long course best. Vandenberg’s time
qualifies her for the 2004 Olympic trials.
Vandenberg was not the only UCLA athlete to qualify for the
Olympic trials. Senior captain Kristin Lewis placed 11th in the
200m fly with an Olympic trials qualifying time of 2:16.52. Lewis
also qualified in the 100m fly, finishing 14th Friday with a time
of 1:01.39.
Senior Sara Platzer also qualified, swimming the 50m freestyle
in 26.01 on Thursday and swimming the 100m free in 57.04 in the
preliminary round on Saturday. Freshman Katie Nelson was the
youngest Bruin to qualify, swimming the 800m free in 8:46.62, good
enough for sixth place.