Records broken at swim meet

The 2003 Speedo Champions Series featured 551 swimmers and 85 teams this weekend at the Student Recreational Sports Center. \nOlympic qualifying times were broken in the event by three different swimmers in four separate events. Nick Cenci, 20, and Alyssa Kiel, 16, broke the Olympic qualifying times in the men's 200-meter butterfly and the women's 400-meter individual medley, respectively. Their performances placed Cenci at the 34th and Kiel at the 35th position nationally in their events. Kiel is already ranked 13th nationally in the women's 400-meter freestyle and fifth nationally in the women's 800-meter freestyle. \nKiel, who has been swimming since she was four, attributed her success in the women's 400-meter individual medley Saturday to her early lead. \n"It's always nice to be in front," Kiel said. "There are always people to push me to do my best." \nAmong the Olympic qualifiers was Whitney Myers, who broke the Olympic qualifying times in three events. \nMyers, 18, swam in the women's 200-meter butterfly, the women's 100-meter butterfly and women's 200-meter individual medley. \nWhitney is already ranked 15th in the women's 200-meter butterfly, 20th in the women's 100-meter butterfly, 21st in the women's 200-meter individual medley and 40th in the women's 400-meter medley nationally. \nThese three Olympic qualifiers are among the swimmers eligible to compete in the Olympic Trials scheduled to take place July 7 to 14, 2004, in Long Beach, Calif. However, for most of the champions this weekend the next step in the national swimming circuit is the U.S. Nationals, which are being held Aug. 5 to 9 in College Park, Md. \nAfter the meet, 19 swimmers made nationals qualifying times. \nThese top-notch swimmers of all ages traveled from Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Arkansas, Minnesota, North Dakota and Kentucky to compete in the meet.\nNumerous USA Swimming Sectional Tournament swimmers set meet records also. Among them were Justine Mueller (women's 200-meter breaststroke), Chris Ash (men's 200-meter breaststroke), Myers (women's 200-meter butterfly, women's 100-meter butterfly, and women's 200-meter individual medley), Kiel (women's 200-meter freestyle and women's 400-meter individual medley), Margot Brooks (women's 800-meter freestyle), the Northern Kentucky Clippers which consists of Jason Vadney, Dustin Thompson, Mike Anderson and Chris Seitz (men's 400-meter freestyle relay), and the Washington Township Swim Club's team (men's 400-meter freestyle relay and men's 800-meter freestyle relay). \nAmong the Nationals qualifiers, Vadney -- the winner in the men's 400-meter freestyle and the men's 200-meter freestyle -- was undecided as to whether he was going to nationals this year. \n"I'm not sure," Vadney said. "I want to go on but I don't want to train for another two weeks." \nFor the elite swimmers, the Speedo Champions Series was merely a stop on the road to the nationals and Olympic trials. Yet for many talented swimmers, it was their last chance to qualify, and it can be a heartbreaking experience. \nHowever, most swimmers said they are honored to already have made it to such a high level of competition. Shelly Klaus, a teammate of Kiel on the Lake Erie Silver Dolphins and competitor in the Speedo Champions series, described the workout regiment swimmers generally follow. \n"We work out twice a day and swim for two hours at a time," Klaus said. "(Lifting weights) or running is basically extra." \nAlthough swimming is primarily an individual sport that centers on training and individual performance, the team element plays a key part in this sectional tournament. \nOf the female teams, The Cincinnati Marlins came in first with The Lake Erie Silver Dolphins coming in second. Washington Township Swim Club won the gold in the male team competition. \nYet, what makes these teams successful is the hard work of the coaches and talented athletes that make them up. \nVadney, a nationals qualifier, said he didn't know what put him out front this weekend. \n"I don't know about edge," Vadney said. "I just had more guts going out there"