Titan sports News Ten months ahead of schedule, American female long-distance swimmer kate ziegler began to build momentum for her trip to the Beijing Olympic Games next year. On October 14th, in a short-course competition in Essen, Germany, Ziegler set a new world record for the 800m freestyle just two days ago-it was the third time in a row that she broke the world record within 48 hours!
[Breaking records becomes a common practice]
The 19-year-old Ziegler swam 8 minutes and 8 seconds in the 800-meter freestyle on the 14th, but in the 12th, she had already achieved 8 minutes and 9 seconds and 68 seconds in the first 800 meters of the 1,500-meter race, breaking the previous 800-meter world record of 8 minutes and 11 seconds held by French player Manudou. It took Ziegler only 15 minutes, 32.90 seconds to swim the whole 1500 meters, which also broke Manudu’s world record of 15 minutes, 42.39 seconds. This is the second time that she has broken the world record of 1500 meters in nearly 10 seconds! In June this year, Ziegler broke the world record of 15 minutes, 52.10 seconds set by Janet Evans, the greatest female swimmer in American history, in 15 minutes, 42.54 seconds, and shortened the record by 9.56 seconds at one time.
Evans, who retired 10 years ago, was also amazed at Ziegler’s achievements. The latter once sincerely praised Ziegler when he broke his world record for the first time in June this year: "1500 meters has always been my favorite. Kate broke my record at the same age as I was. It was terrible. This record often advances by 1/100th of a second, so you have to admit that she is one of the greatest athletes in the 1500m event. "
Kate ziegler was born in Virginia, USA on June 27th, 1988, and won the 800m and 1500m gold medals in two consecutive swimming world championships in 2005 and 2007. She is also the second female swimmer to swim 16 points in the 1500m after Evans.
Ziegler is simply a swimmer born for records-he is good at freestyle from 200 meters to 1500 meters. Since he was 15 years old, he has set new American records one after another, including American records of all ages in long-distance events, many of which are on Evans’ shoulder. What is more representative is that in February 2005, she broke the national record of 800 meters, which had been silent for 25 years, in 8 minutes 16.32 seconds, which was also the longest national record in American swimming events at that time. Now, the national records of American 500-meter freestyle, 800-meter freestyle, 1000-meter freestyle and 1500-meter freestyle have been recorded in Ziegler’s name!
[A swimsuit makes a genius]
In fact, kate ziegler didn’t show her talent for swimming when she was a child. Even when she was 6 years old, she started swimming training not because she was attracted by the sport, but because the uniform of a swimming team near her home was particularly beautiful, so she cried and begged her parents to buy one for herself. Ziegler recalled: "It was a blue team uniform with beautiful patterns like fireworks. I think it’s so cool. " However, her mother told her that she wouldn’t buy it for her unless she joined the swimming team. "At that time, I cried when I talked." Ziegler said with a smile, "Later, I met with the coach of the swimming team and immediately felt at home. Since then, I have been insisting on swimming down. "
At the age of 9, Ziegler was once again stumped by swimming, because at this age, children need to change from the 25m pool to the 50m pool. "I remember crying and shouting,’ I’m not swimming! I can’t swim 50 meters.’ "Ziegler laughed and recalled," fortunately, I persisted later. Now I like swimming 1500 meters best. " She is now faster than all the female athletes in the world in this event.
However, because there is no women’s 1500-meter swimming event in the Olympic Games, Ziegler can only lock her gold medal goal above 800 meters, which makes her feel very depressed. "I can’t understand this situation, but I can’t change it."
In June this year, Ziegler broke the dusty record of 1500m freestyle with a time of 15 minutes 42.54 seconds, less than 10 days before her 19th birthday. Ray Benecchi, the coach who has been training Ziegler since she was 13 years old, commented on the significance of the new record: "Shortening the record by 10 seconds means shortening every 100 meters by 2/3 seconds, which is like shortening the world record of 100 meters freestyle by 0.36 seconds. Perhaps, 10 seconds is really too much! "
However, in people’s general consciousness, including the World Championships, the champion of any competition and the world record are not as heavy as an Olympic gold medal. After the National Swimming Championships, Ziegler rested for three weeks, during which he only went into the water occasionally to keep his feeling. "My central task this year is to adjust my state for the Olympic Games. For a long time, there are many really great swimmers who swim very well in non-Olympic years, but they are not remembered because they are not achievements in the Olympic Games. The Olympic Games is a difficult challenge, and I am full of expectations for it. "
[Homesick girls drop out of school to prepare for war]
Ziegler defines herself as a homesick girl. "Even if our whole family is going on vacation together, I will say, I want to stay at home and sleep."
Even though she has become one of the best swimmers in the world, before she graduated from high school in June 2006, Ziegler will still compete on behalf of her O’Connell high school swimming team. Her contract with Speedo, a swimming costume sponsor, was signed in 2013, and her salary was as high as seven figures. However, Ziegler believes that money is not what he values most. "Teammates are more important than making money. I love my alma mater and I feel very comfortable in O’Connell High School. "
When she gave up her university scholarship to become a professional athlete in 2006, she made a homesick choice again. After visiting Georgia and Florida, she chose to stay in George Mei Sen, where she grew up. "So I can take my clothes home to wash and eat a great home-cooked meal every day. Great, I am close to home, and I can see my mother whenever I want to hug her. "
Not only that, in George Mei Sen’s men’s and women’s swimming team, Ziegler volunteered to be an assistant coach, and sometimes he trained with the men’s 1500m swimmers.
The reason why Ziegler temporarily gave up the university scholarship is that she had to concentrate on training one year before the Olympic Games. After the Olympic Games, she will return to school to study for a degree in psychology. "I think if I just swim every day, I will go crazy. I need to find a balance in my life. " Mother revealed that Ziegler has an innate fear of new things, which is why her mother tried every means to coax her daughter into joining the swimming team. "But Kate knows that she has enough good things, and she has enough motivation to do better!"
[National Team: Second Home]
Even though it is almost certain that he can represent the United States in next year’s Olympic Games, Ziegler still can’t believe this sudden happiness. "In the past, I have paid attention to the reports of great swimmers like Natalie Coughlin and Phelps. Then I found myself on their team. This is me? Why am I here?’ These people are all heroes in my mind. When someone asks me for photos, I will ask,’ What do you want my photos for? Do you know me?’ When I first joined the national team, I dare say that people didn’t know me at that time. They just saw me wearing the training uniform of the American team. "
Usually, the famous swimming stars are concentrated in short-distance events, so Ziegler decided to take a high-profile attitude for the sake of the popularity of his long-distance events. As a long-distance runner, she often feels lonely, which is an important reason why she wants to stay with her high school teammates, and then work with her college teammates who can’t compete with her at all and train with her club teammates. She said: "The national team is like another home, just like high school in O’Connell or George Mei Sen. Everywhere I go, I try to build a small circle as warm as home."
The uniforms of the American team are red, white and blue, and there are no fireworks-like patterns, but it doesn’t matter. Ziegler will add brilliant fireworks himself.
Editor: Lu Fangfei