Ziegler Exorcises Fear With Faith

Craig Lord

A few things that I hadn't noticed before struck me as I stood poolside chatting to Kate Ziegler of the US out at the US training base in Geelong: she's never raced against Laure Manaudou; she was five days short of 3 months old when Janet Evans set her 4:03.85 and just over a year old when the distance legend clocked 8:16.22 over 800 metres; and she is a truly splendid ambassador for her sport, her national team and those who have nurtured here to where she is, in life as much as in the water.

No world title is ever easy to defend but if it were possible to measure degrees of difficulty in the race pool here in Melbourne, then Ziegler, 18, might be deemed to have a particularly hard task ahead as she prepares to keep the 800 and 1,500m freestyle crowns in the face of the French force majeure.

The American teenager appears unphased when Manaudou's name crops up: "You know what, I come into these meets for the same things every time: best times and to race against the best in the world. I've never competed against Manaudou but she's clearly an amazing swimmer and so I know I'm going to get huge competition from her and the rest of the girls. I'm excited to see where I place."

Just as interesting will be to see what happens in the opening sequence of the race. Last summer, Manaudou put her European rivals (in all races from 400 upwards) and Evans's eight-lap standard through a mangle down the first length. First turn: game over.

Intriguingly, Ziegler too has got to Evans - who she describes as "super nice ... a hero of mine" - and also gets out fast: while her splits when she broke the US record holder's national marks over 500 and 1,000 yards (respecitivel January this year nd December last) cannot be set meaningfully against any of Manaudou's when measured in metres, the college student coached by Ray Benecki at The Fish in Virginia is clearly in the form of her life.

She knows she'll need to be: "I know she [Manaudou] goes out extremely fast - and I like to go out fast too - so if I can keep up, hopefully, if she sets the pace then that'll be good for me to set a best time." At the moment those are 4:05.75; 8:24.56 (slightly out of kilter with the calibre of the other two); and 15:55.01.

Beyond the hard work (10-15km a day, 7 days a week) and efficiency of stroke, confidence is the key to performing beyond best, she believes. Just the tonic then to confine Evans to the history file not just in one but two events on the cusp of a world championship. "I definitely felt great this winter with my training so to go best times coming into this meet is great."

She has a touch to go before she gets to Evans in metres but with Manaudou dictating that distance freestyle racing is for now - as it was in Evans's finest hour - no longer just about winning but doing so while taking a mallet to the clock, the American could at the very least set national records that have stood since the late 1980s.

In one of the three freestyle clashes, Ziegler and teammate Hayley Peirsol, sister of Aaron, enter the race ahead of the 400m Olympic champion, at least on paper: the 30-lap all-time world ranking reads - 15:52.10 Janet Evans (88); 15:55.01 Kate Ziegler (06); 15:57.36 Hayley Peirsol (06); 16:00.18 Hannah Stockbauer (03, championship record); 16:03.01 Laure Manaudou (06).

"I'd love to go a best time. At Pan Pacs, I dropped five seconds. That was a breakout swim for me. It would be awesome to go under 16 as we did at Pan Pacs with Hayley there. She pushed me all the way," says Ziegler a look of glee that the non-competitive spirit would balk at. There is no fear here. But the faith that takes its place pours in bucketloads and serves as an excorcist to pain.

"I definitely feel like God gave me the gift of swimming," says Ziegler. The talent she is blessed with is not "what I do ... I look at it in terms of where it comes from". It is a force that runs through her, one that is heaven sent.

Before each swim she recites All things through Christ who gives me strength - Philippians 4:13 - and continues to do so throughout her races. "When races get hard, I'm like 'come on God ...'. It plays a huge role. Over 30 laps I do say that quote quite often. It gets me through the pain. I can can clearly remember one practice: it was brutal, a really long set, it was hurting terribly. I kept saying it and said some Hail Marys. Maybe God was or wasn't taking the pain away. But it took my mind off it."

In such an approach there is room for respect but the fearful animal that Manaudou likes to imagine on the starting block alongside her is not called Ziegler. "I see her posting amazing times, so she's clearly doing something right," said the defending 800 and 1,500m champion.

Right enough for a sub-4-minute effort over 400m? And if so, could she get there? "Sure, why not? When she saw Manaudou's 400m time from Budapest, Ziegler said, it was definitely a case of 'o my gosh' ... but it really exciutes me to see anyone swim that fast. It's like 'o wow! she went a 4:02: come on, let's get down there with her. No-one ever thought that anyone would break Janet Evans record but they did. It's only a matter of time."

Especially at a time when distance freestyle was, she said, "blossoming ... once one person swims faster everyone jumps on and rises to the occasion". The way down to new standards such as those being set by Manaudou was a process of consistently pushing the borderline.

"We have test sets ... the coach will record the times and test them against the previous [broken] set every one or two weeks. I've been getting better and better of late, though there are always practices where you're a little bit off."

From that atmosphere Ziegler escapes to her school life, living on college campus and studying a variety of subjects to get her general requirements for furthering her education at some stage. "If i was only a swimmer and only focussed on that, I'd go insane. You need to get away from the chlorine once in a while. I see my friends, my family, its impotant to be a well-triunded person," says Ziegler, who celebrates a big win by going out with mom and getting her nails done.

Given the Manaudou maelstrom heading her way and the potential closeness of things, perhaps the delightful Ziegler should take a trip downtown and get her nails done beforehand this time just in case it comes down to the touch.