BATON ROUGE — LSU junior swimmer Amanda Kendall has earned her third and first individual gold medal at the Pan American Games after posting the seventh highest 100-meter freestyle time in the United States for the 2011 cycle.
This spectacular time bodes well for Olympic trials, where the top-six swimmer’s times are selected to represent Team USA at the 2012 Olympics in London.
“We are absolutely thrilled for Amanda,” LSU Swimming Coach Dave Geyer said. “We looked at this meet as an opportunity to gain some valuable experience and now with her earning 3 gold medals, that leaves us without words. The swim tonight is a big step for her development toward Olympic Trials in July.”
Kendall’s first place time (54.75) in the final round was a personal career best.
Earlier in today’s preliminary swim, Kendall posted a short-lived lifetime best of 54.82 to earn the top seed heading into tonight’s final.
During the Pan Am Games, Kendall has been part of two Pan Am Games records and three gold medals.
Kendall notched her first gold medal and swam the third leg of the 4 x 100 free relay with a split of 54.62. She earned her second gold medal and second Pan Am Games record when she anchored the 4 x 200 free relay with a sub 2 minute 200.
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 with a time of 55.08.
The Pan American Games are currently hosted in Guadalajara, Mexico and are held every four years the year prior to the Summer Olympics.
For more information on how Kendall finishes at the Pan American Games, please visit USAswimming.org, check back on LSU Swimming and Diving on Facebook or look for updates on Twitter @LSUswimdive.