Miller & Barker leave for Nationals Wednesday

Sandpipers Cody Miller, Olivia Barker, compete against Olympians Soni, Shanteau and Hoff at Short Course Nationals  (11/24/2009)

 

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Top American swimmers, including members of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Swim Team, will compete at the 2009 AT&T Short Course National Championships, December 3-5. Among the swimmers expected to compete are U.S. Olympians Rebecca Soni (Plainsboro, N.J.), Margaret Hoelzer (Huntsville, Ala.), Eric Shanteau (Lilburn, Ga ), and Katie Hoff (Towson, Md.). The competition will be held at the Weyerhaueser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Wash.

Additional Olympians competing at Short Course Nationals include Olympic gold medalists Garrett Weber-Gale (Milwaukee, Wis.) and Peter Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich.), World Championship silver medalist Tyler Clary (Riverside, Calif.), Olympic bronze medalist Caroline Burckle (Louisville, Ky.) and Worlds bronze medalist Kasey Carlson (Walnut Creek, Calif.). Jessica Hardy (Long Beach, Calif.), who just took home the FINA World Cup female title, will also swim in the meet.

Japanese Olympic gold medalist Kosuke Kitajima, who won both the 100m and 200m breast at the 2008 Olympics, will be back in the water in Federal Way. The swimmer, who did not compete at the 2009 FINA World Championships, is currently training with the Trojan Swim Club in Los Angeles.

Many top Seattle-area swimmers will also compete in Federal Way, including Olympians Nathan Adrian (Bremerton, Wash.) and Megan Jendrick (Tacoma, Wash.), and World Championship gold medalist and world record-holder Ariana Kukors (Auburn, Wash.), and Andie Taylor (Issaquah, Wash.).

The meet will follow the traditional schedule of morning prelims and evening finals with the morning sessions starting each day at 9 a.m. Evening finals begin at 5 p.m. Five to seven events will be contested daily.

Footage from the meet will air nationally on NBC on Saturday, December 12 from 2 – 3 p.m. ET. All three days of prelims and finals will also be available for viewing on-demand at http://www.swimnetwork.com/.