Enduring Qualities

After winning gold medals in the grueling, gritty events last month at the World Swimming Championships in Montreal -- the 800 and 1,500-meter distances -- 17-year-old Kate Ziegler was being called the new Janet Evans.

So when Ziegler, from Great Falls, Va., came to Irvine last week to compete in the U.S. Summer Nationals at the Woollett Aquatics Center, the teenager got her first chance to meet the legend, Evans, the woman who still holds the world record in the 800 (8 minutes 16.22 seconds, set in 1989) and the 1,500 (15:52.10, set in 1988).

The two didn’t talk about marathon training or the extra-long hours spent in the pool after the lucky sprinters have gone home while you still have 10,000 meters to swim. Nope, they talked about shopping.

Ziegler wants a Coach bag. Evans said, “South Coast Plaza.”

With many of the biggest names in U.S. swimming sitting out these nationals -- world-record holder Aaron Peirsol, Olympians Jason Lezak, Natalie Coughlin, Amanda Beard -- this meet has, especially for the women, been an opportunity for a new generation to emerge.

Ziegler won the 800, and Kelsey Ditto, 15, was third. In the 400 individual medley, Ariana Kukors, 16, was first, and two 17-year-olds, Julia Smit and Ali Aemisegger, were second and third, and 15-year-old Teresa Crippen was sixth. Crippen also finished second in the 200 backstroke.

Jessica Hardy, 18, of Long Beach won the 100 breaststroke Saturday night after she set a world record in the event at worlds. Katie Hoff, 16, was fourth in the 100 freestyle; Elaine Breeden, 16, won the 100 and 200 butterflies; Rebecca Soni, 18, won the 200 breaststroke; Amanda Weir, 19, won the 100 freestyle.

These young American swimmers are unabashedly excited about the next three years. “It’s our turn coming,” Ziegler said. “I can hardly wait.”

After finishing fourth last year at the Olympic trials in the 800 meters -- a result she said was more inspiring than disappointing because it made her eager to get back in the pool and train harder -- Ziegler said her eye-opening swims in Montreal were not unexpected but very much appreciated.

“I set goals of times,” Ziegler said, “and if I meet the time goals, usually I’ll do well in the placements. I met my time goals.”

Ziegler’s time of 16:00.41 at the worlds was more than four seconds faster than runner-up Flavia Rigamonti of Switzerland and was the third-fastest time in history. Only Evans and 2003 world champion Hannah Stockbauer of Germany (16:00.18) have swum the event faster.

Ziegler also dominated in the 800. In her early swimming life she was a sprinter, and she still has that quick burst of speed. In Montreal, Ziegler built a lead in the first 200 meters and kept a big margin until the end, finishing in 8:25.31, more than two seconds faster than the runner-up, Canada’s Brittany Reimer.

It was not an easy decision for Ziegler to become a long-distance swimmer.

“First of all,” she said, “I don’t like change. At first my goal was to be like Jenny Thompson. I wanted to win the sprints and go to the Olympics and be there for the 50 free, standing up there like Jenny, so confident.”

But when she was 12, Ziegler changed swim clubs, moving to Fish, which was closer to her home. Coach Ray Benecki took stock of the shy, gangly girl and asked her, “Do you just want to swim or do you want to do great things?” What Benecki saw in Ziegler was an endurance athlete. At one of their first meets she finished well out of the top 16 in the 50 freestyle but well within in the top 16 in the 800.

“I didn’t like change,” Ziegler said, “but I like to win.”

Evans says she likes what she sees of Ziegler beyond that love of shopping. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, U.S. swimmers came up empty in the 800 for the first time since the 1980 U.S. boycott of the Summer Games. Tiffany Cohen had won in 1984, Evans in 1988 and 1992 and Brooke Bennett in 1996 and 2000. Ai Shibata of Japan won the gold last year, but she could manage only a fourth at Montreal.

“I see a girl with a great attitude,” Evans said of Ziegler. “I see a girl who’s very excited and very positive. It’s flattering for me that someone would be called the next Janet Evans, but that’s a lot of pressure for her. She’s her own person with her own motives and desires. To me what’s exciting is, the summer after an Olympic year is a great coming-out party and I’m seeing a lot of young female swimmers who have a great future.”

In Ziegler’s near future Friday night was a trip to the mall. Closing time was approaching. She had a goal, and time was running out. Shopping is a marathon, after all, not a sprint.

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Reimer, beaten by Ziegler in the 800 and 1,500 at the worlds, got a measure of revenge Saturday night at the Summer Nationals when she won the 400 freestyle in 4:10.13. Ziegler was second in 4:10.41.

Breeden completed her butterfly sweep by winning the 100 in 59.20 to go with the 200 title she earned Thursday. Olympian Dana Kirk was second in 59.31.

Hardy defeated 2000 Olympic champion Megan Jendrick in the 100 breaststroke, though her time of 1:07.45 was well off her world mark of 1:06.20. Jendrick was second in 1:08.05. Tara Kirk, bronze medalist in Montreal, was third in 1:08.57.

Two-time Olympian Klete Keller led wire to wire in winning the men’s 400 freestyle in 3:46.20, more than six seconds over Andrew Hurd of Canada (3:52.38).

Keller, who won the 800 free Wednesday and finished second to Michael Phelps in the 200 free Friday, teamed with Phelps to win the 800 free relay Saturday night for Club Wolverine. Phelps also helped the club win the 400 free relay.

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Associated Press contributed to this report.