BATON ROUGE — LSU junior Amanda Kendall earned her second gold medal and was part of her second record breaking performance at the Pan American Games on Tuesday in the 4 x 200 meter freestyle relay.
Kendall anchored the relay that was led off by team USA member’s Catherine Breed (Pleasanton, Calif.), Elizabeth Pelton (Ruxton, Md.) and Chelsea Nauta (Tampa. Fla).
The women’s 800m freestyle relay finished more than eight seconds ahead of the rest of the field in 8:01.18, besting the Pan Am Games record of 8:02.03 by more than a second.
“I am thrilled with her performance tonight in the final and obviously excited for her to get her second gold medal and Pan American record,” Head Coach Dave Geyer said. “Today is the big day though and she knows it. The 100 free is what she was selected for and she seems primed for a great swim. Having her there, representing the United States and LSU has been fun for our team to watch from afar.
In today’s preliminary swim in the 100 free, Kendall posted a lifetime best of 54.82 to have the top seed heading into tonight’s final. That time now ranks her 8th in the country and top 40 in the world. She is going for gold tonight.
Kendall hopes to earn a spot on the 4X100 medley relay following her 100 free performance.
The USA Swimming and the United States Olympic Committee chose Kendall to represent her country in the 100 free relay after her spectacular performance at this past summer’s ConocoPhillips United States Nationals, August 2-6.
At the event, Kendall qualified for the ‘A’ 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 for the 2011 cycle and lifetime best of 55.08.
For more information on how Kendall finishes at the Pan American Games, please visit USAswimming.org, check back with LSU Swimming and Diving on Facebook or look for updates on Twitter @LSUswimdive.