BATON ROUGE — USA Swimming and the United States Olympic Committee has chosen LSU junior Amanda Kendall to represent her country in the 100-meter freestyle at the Pan America Games hosted in Guadalajara, Mexico, October 11-22, 2011.
Kendall’s selection was based off of her spectacular performance at US Nationals in Palo Alto, Calif., August 2-6, where she qualified for the championship final after posting a 100 free time of 55.30. She went on to finish seventh in the final round with a top-50 in the world and lifetime best of 55.08.
“We are certainly proud of this accomplishment for Amanda,” Swimming Coach Dave Geyer said. “We knew heading into Senior Nationals that if she swam to her potential she would have a great shot at being selected.”
The Fairfax, Va., native Kendall won the consolation final of the 100-yard free at NCAA Championships with a staggering time of 48.12. Through out her career she has earned one First-Team All-America accolade and six Honorable Mention All-America honors.
Kendall is also LSU’s 100yd free record holder after swimming to a bronze medal at SEC Championships (47.90).
Kendall has improved drastically from her freshman to sophomore year, and looks to use her international and long course competition to her advantage once the collegiate season begins.
“Coach (Lance) Asti has done a great job with Amanda over the course of this past school year as well as this summer,” Geyer said. “We are excited to have her heading to Mexico to not only represent the United States of America, but representing our LSU Lady Tigers.”
The Pan American Games are held every four years the year prior to the Summer Olympics. The Pan Am Games consists of 36 sports and nearly 400 events. The swimming portion of the games will be held from the 15th to the 21st.
For live timing and results please visit www.omegatiming.com.