Swimming in Beijing

Oregon State sends Beaver swimmers across Pacific

By: Robert Ingle

Posted: 7/23/08

On a basketball court converted into a swimming pool and with upwards of 13,000 screaming spectators, future Oregon State swimmers Jenni Dole and Rachel Wahl, along with current Beaver swimmer Brittney Iverson, competed in the U.S. Olympic swimming trials on June 29 in Omaha Nebraska.

Coming to Oregon State from Spokane, Wash., rising freshman Dole competed in the 100-meter butterfly at the trials, finishing in 1 minute 01.12 seconds, which was good enough for 109th. At Oregon State, the 18-year-old will specialize in the fly as well as both the 100 and 200 backstrokes, and the coaching staff has lofty expectations.

"She has the potential to be a leader and will push the other swimmers," said head coach Larry Liebowitz in an Oregon State sports release. "She is fast enough that she will make an immediate impact on the team."

Wahl, a junior transfer from Allen Hancock Community College, also competed in the 100-meter butterfly and had a time of 1 minute 01.96 seconds, finishing just ahead of future teammate Dole in 102nd. In addition, the San Luis Obispo, Calif. native competed in the 200-meter butterfly and tied for 81st with a time of 2 minutes 16.43 seconds. The butterfly specialist expects to also compete in the 200- and 400-meter individual medleys for the Beavers.

All-American swimmer Iverson competed in the 200 individual medley and placed 84th after finishing sixth in her heat in 2 minutes 21.06 seconds. The junior spoke on behalf of the Beaver swimmers who competed, saying the Olympic trials were a springboard for next season and beyond.

"I think that having been at the trials will help us in the future to compete at nationals and hopefully NCAAs," Iverson said. "We've had the biggest one under our belts."

The experience of being at the trials was significant for the Beaver swimmers, but not because of the Olympic-caliber competition. According to Iverson, she wasn't fazed about racing at such a level, having swum against the highest caliber athletes all her life. However, she concedes that seeing the finals at the time trials was an exciting and enjoyable experience.

"I've swum at the same meets as Olympians before, and actually raced them at other national meets," Iverson said. "But it was amazing watching the past Olympians swim in the finals and seeing several world records get broken."

Though she did not compete in Omaha, OSU butterfly and freestyle swimmer Saori Haruguchi will be competing in Beijing as a member of the Japanese Olympic swim team after having won the 400 individual medley with a time of 4 minutes 38.94 seconds at the Japanese team trials.

Although Haruguchi will be the only Beaver swimmer competing at the Olympics this time around, the rest of the squad will be cheering her on, preparing themselves for the noise of the raucous crowds that they hope to be swimming in front of next time.