Failure in 800 hits like tsunami

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - The failure of American swimmers Kate Ziegler and Katie Hoff to reach the final of the 800-meter freestyle at the Beijing Olympics stunned the Washington-area swimming community Thursday. But local coaches warned against speculation on reasons for their disappointing performances.

“That was a shock,” said Pete Morgan, who guided the U.S. men’s team at the 2006 World Championships and is head coach of Curl Burke Swim Club. “But what we don’t know might tell us more than what we do know.”

The United States had won the event five straight times from 1984-2000, and there had never been an 800 final without an American since the event’s introduction for women in 1968.

Both Ziegler, a 20-year-old from Great Falls, and Hoff, 19, from Baltimore, were considered favorites.

Ziegler owns the world record in the 1,500 freestyle and last year was the world champion in the 800, but at the games she finished 10th overall in 8 minutes, 26.98 seconds, more than eight seconds over her personal best.

Hoff was 11th in 8:27.78, and leaves China with three medals — one silver and two bronze — from six events. Ziegler, however, will head home empty-handed, as she also failed to reach the finals of her other event, the 400-meter freestyle.

“Some days your body just doesn’t work, and my body chose a bad time to not work,” Ziegler told reporters in Beijing, saying she may have trained too little ahead of her first Olympics.

At last month’s U.S. trials, she was a surprising second to Hoff in both events, and there were reports that perhaps she was training too much.

“[After the trials], I think more of the talk was, ‘She’ll pull through,’” said Robinson High coach Rich Gordon. “You have one bad race, you learn from it and you move on.”

The relative youth of both swimmers, the distance from home and the spectacle of the games themselves also may all share in the blame.

“Those of us who have watched Kate grow into a world-class athlete would have hoped for a better result,” said Morgan. “But the great thing about Kate is she’s young enough to say, ‘This is not going to be what defines me.’ She’ll go on to have some great swims, it just won’t be in Beijing.”

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