Arkansas swimmers set for 2008 Olympic Trials

OMAHA, Neb. – Four current University of Arkansas swimmers and one incoming Razorback chase their Olympic dreams and vie for a spot on the 2008 United States Olympic Team as the swimming trials begin on Sunday, June 29, at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb. Senior Stephanie Carr, sophomores Katie Kastes, Jamie Marks and Ashley Largo and incoming junior Leah Pierce qualified for the trials that run through Sunday, July 6. “We’re extremely excited to have five Razorback swimmers competing at the upcoming Olympic Trials,” said head coach Jeff Poppell. “It’s the largest Olympic Trials event ever held and will be sure to feature several world records being broken over the week-long event. It should be very exciting.” Kastes swims the most events of any Razorback at the Trials. She is a qualifier in four events, the 400m freestyle, 100m and 200m butterflies and 400m individual medley. Carr, Marks and Pierce each compete in two events. Carr vies for a top spot in the 400m and 800m freestyles and boasts a top-25 seed in the 800m free. Marks is slated to swim the 200m breaststroke and 400m IM and Pierce is entered in the 100m and 200m breaststrokes. Largo battles it out in the 800m free. To make the team, swimmers have to finish in the top two of their respective event or be among the top four in the 100m free and 200m free as those spots are used to fill out relay teams. If a swimmer declines a spot in a particular event, the preference then goes to the next highest finisher. The women’s U.S. Olympic Team will have a maximum of 26 swimmers. Former UA Olympic swimmers include Cheryl McArton (Canada) in 1984, Natalia Kodajova (Slovakia) in 1996 and Zsuzsa Csobanki (Hungary) in 2004. NBC Sports broadcasts the finals session live each night from Omaha. Broadcasts begin each evening at 7 p.m. CT. Broadcasts on Sunday, June 29; Friday, July 4; Saturday, July 5; and Sunday, July 6 are live on NBC. The broadcasts Monday, June 30 – Thursday, July 3 can be found on the USA Network. More information on the Olympic Trials can be found at www.USASwimming.org. For more information about Arkansas swimming and diving, please log on to LADYBACKS.COM.