By Amy Shipley

Olympian Kate Ziegler, who took a long break after the 2008 Summer Games and missed the U.S. championships this past summer because of the flu, is back in the water and getting her old speed back.

Ziegler, 21, won the gold medal in the 500-yard freestyle Saturday night at the Minnesota Grand Prix in Minneapolis, finishing just .09 ahead of former training mate Chloe Sutton. Ziegler, who resides in Great Falls and trains with The FISH, touched the wall in 4 minutes, 41.52 seconds; Sutton came home in 4:41.61.

The two had reversed roles the night before; Ziegler missed the gold by four-tenths of a second in the women’s 1,000 freestyle, finishing in 9:34.12 seconds. Sutton claimed first with a meet record time of 9:33.72.

Ziegler, a distance specialist from Great Falls, finished ninth in the 200 freestyle Friday in 1:49.85.

Meanwhile, George Mason’s Thomas Koucheravy just missed a medal in the men’s 1,000-yard freestyle Friday, finishing fourth in 9:19.24; he got sixth in the 500 free on Saturday in 4:34.72. In the 1000 free, the FISH’s Adam Pennington grabbed sixth in 9:25.44 and club mate Matthew Benecki got eighth in 9:28.36. Benecki also claimed fifth in the 500 free in 4:34.09.

Sutton and Olympic champion Rebecca Soni each won two medals and set meet records. Sutton also took silver in the women’s 200 free in 1:48.18. Soni set the meet record in the finals of the women’s 100 breast in 59.69, and later won the silver in the 200 medley in 2:01.75.

For USA Swimming’s complete report, click here.  For complete results, click here.

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