View source for Kate Ziegler

{{Short description|American swimmer (born 1988)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2015}}
{{Infobox swimmer
| name           = Kate Ziegler
| image          = <!-- Only free-content images are allowed for depicting living people -- see [[WP:NONFREE]]. -->
| image_size     = <!-- Only for images narrower than 220 pixels -->
| alt            = 
| caption        = 
| full_name      = Kate Marie Ziegler
| nicknames      = 
| national_team  = {{USA}}
| birth_date     = {{Birth date and age|1988|6|27|mf=y}}
| birth_place    = [[Fairfax, Virginia]], U.S.
| death_date     =
| death_place    =
| height         = 6 ft 0 in
| weight         = 161 lb <!-- per london2012.com -->
| strokes        = [[Freestyle swimming|Freestyle]]
| club           = FISH
| medaltemplates =
{{MedalSport | Women's swimming}}
{{MedalCountry | the United States}}
{{MedalCompetition | [[FINA World Aquatics Championships|World Championships (LC)]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[Swimming at the 2005 World Aquatics Championships|2005 Montreal]] | [[Swimming at the 2005 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 800 metre freestyle|800 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalGold | 2005 Montreal | [[Swimming at the 2005 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 1500 metre freestyle|1500 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships|2007 Melbourne]] | [[Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 800 metre freestyle|800 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalGold | 2007 Melbourne | [[Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 1500 metre freestyle|1500 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalSilver | [[Swimming at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships|2011 Shanghai]] | [[Swimming at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 1500 metre freestyle|1500 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalBronze | 2011 Shanghai | [[Swimming at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 800 metre freestyle|800 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalCompetition | [[FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m)|World Championships (SC)]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[2006 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m)|2006 Shanghai]] | 400 m freestyle}}
{{MedalSilver | [[2004 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m)|2004 Indianapolis]] | 800 m freestyle}}
{{MedalSilver | 2006 Shanghai | 800 m freestyle}}
{{MedalBronze | 2006 Shanghai | 4×200 m freestyle}}
{{MedalBronze | [[2010 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m)|2010 Dubai]] | [[2010 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) – Women's 800 metre freestyle|800 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|Pan Pacific Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[2006 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|2006 Victoria]] | [[2006 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Women's 800 metre freestyle|800 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalGold | 2006 Victoria | [[2006 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Women's 1500 metre freestyle|1500 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|2010 Irvine]] | [[2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Women's 800 metre freestyle|800 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalSilver | 2010 Irvine | [[2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Women's 1500 metre freestyle|1500 m freestyle]]}}
}}

'''Kate Marie Ziegler''' (born June 27, 1988) is an American competition [[swimming (sport)|swimmer]] who specializes in [[freestyle swimming|freestyle]] and [[Long-distance swimming|long-distance]] events.  Ziegler has won a total of fifteen medals in major international competition, including eight golds, five silvers, and two bronzes spanning the [[FINA World Aquatics Championships|World Aquatics]] and the [[Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|Pan Pacific]] Championships.  She was a member of the 2012 United States Olympic team, and competed in the 800-meter freestyle event at the [[2012 Summer Olympics]].

==Early years==
{{BLP unreferenced section|date=May 2019}}
Ziegler was born in 1988 in [[Fairfax, Virginia]], the daughter of Don and Cathy Ziegler. She was a part of a local swim team, FISH, where she was coached under Ray Benecki. She attended Forestville Elementary School in Great Falls, Virginia and [[Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School]] in [[Arlington County, Virginia]]. At O'Connell, she excelled throughout her four years, earning ''Washington Post'' All-Met honors four straight years, including being named Swimmer of the Year on more than one occasion.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

As a freshman, she finished third in the 200-yard freestyle (1:51.59) and won the 500-yard freestyle (4:47.78) at the 2003 Metros Swimming and Diving Championships, breaking the 15-year-old record in the 500 held by Pam Minthorn. She also anchored O'Connell's 200-yard freestyle relay (24.51 split) and 400-yard freestyle relay (53.65 split) to seventh and sixth-place finishes, respectively. As a sophomore the following year, she won both the 200-yard freestyle (1:46.15) and the 500-yard freestyle (4:41.91) in record time, and anchored the winning 200-yard freestyle relay (24.14 split) and third place 400-yard freestyle relay (51.63 split). Her times continued to drop rapidly, and as a junior she again won both the 200-yard freestyle (1:45.43) and 500-yard freestyle (4:37.67) in record time, the latter being an independent national high school record.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

As a senior, she continued to excel, tying the national high school record in the 200-yard freestyle (1:45.49) and breaking the [[List of United States records in swimming|American record]] held by [[Janet Evans]] in the 500-yard freestyle (4:35.35).{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

Ziegler initially attended [[George Mason University]], and later transferred to [[Chapman University]] in 2011.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

==International career==
{{BLP sources section|date=March 2022}}

===2004-05===
At the [[2004 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m)|2004 Short Course Worlds]], she finished second to Japan's [[Sachiko Yamada (swimmer)|Sachiko Yamada]] in the 800-meter freestyle with a time of 8:20.55.  Her 400-meter split would have placed fourth in the event at the meet.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fina.org/events/SW/SWC(25m)/Indianapolis_2004/results/pdf/Results_2004_World_Short_Course_25m_Indianapolis.pdf |title=7th FINA World Championships - 25m Indianapolis 2004 |access-date=2007-07-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926041704/http://www.fina.org/events/SW/SWC%2825m%29/Indianapolis_2004/results/pdf/Results_2004_World_Short_Course_25m_Indianapolis.pdf |archive-date=September 26, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In February 2005, at the [[2004-2005 FINA Swimming World Cup|FINA World Cup]] stop in New York, Ziegler won the 800-meter freestyle in 8:16.32, breaking [[Cynthia Woodhead]]'s 25-year-old [[List of United States records in swimming|American record]], which at the time was the oldest American record on the books.

In 2005, Ziegler won the 800-meter freestyle (8:25.31) and 1,500-meter freestyle (16:00.41) at the [[2005 World Aquatics Championships|World Championships]] in Montreal.  The latter time made her the third-fastest woman (and second-fastest American) in the history of the event, following only world-record holder [[Janet Evans]]'s 15:52.10 and German [[Hannah Stockbauer]]'s 16:00.18.  She qualified for Worlds after winning the 800-meter freestyle at World Trials in Indianapolis with a time of 8:34.83.  She failed to qualify in the 400-meter freestyle, finishing third in a time of 4:12.09.

===2006-08===

At the [[2006 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships]], she swam the 1,500-meter freestyle in 15:55.01, making her the second fastest swimmer of all time in that event and only the second person to break the sixteen-minute mark.  The third person was [[Hayley Peirsol]] who finished the event just two seconds later.

In 2007, at an in-season meet, Ziegler broke Janet Evans's longstanding world record in the 1500-meter freestyle with a time of 15:42.54. It stood for six years until [[Katie Ledecky]] broke the record in 2013.

At the [[Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships|2007 World Championships]], she won the 800-meter freestyle<ref name="12th FINA World Championships">{{cite web|url=http://www.fina.org/events/WC/Melbourne_2007/results/swimming.php |title=12th FINA World Championships |access-date=2007-06-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070606111744/http://www.fina.org/events/WC/Melbourne_2007/results/swimming.php |archive-date=June 6, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and 1,500-meter freestyle,<ref name="12th FINA World Championships"/> to defend the titles she had won in [[2005 World Aquatics Championships|2005]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fina.org/events/WC/Montreal_2005/results/sw.php |title=Montreal 2005 Results |access-date=2007-06-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070128064425/http://www.fina.org/events/WC/Montreal_2005/results/sw.php |archive-date=January 28, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2008, Ziegler qualified for the Olympic Games by placing second to [[Katie Hoff]] in both the 400-meter (4:03.92) and 800-meter (8:25.38) freestyle events. At the [[2008 Summer Olympics]] in Beijing, however, Ziegler failed to qualify for the finals in either event. Notably, her best time in the 800-meter would have netted her a silver medal.<ref name="SR">{{cite Sports-Reference}}</ref>

===2012 Summer Olympics===
{{see also|Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics}}

At the [[2012 United States Olympic Trials (swimming)|2012 United States Olympic Trials]] in Omaha, Nebraska, Ziegler made the U.S. Olympic team for the second time by placing second behind [[Katie Ledecky]] in the 800-meter freestyle with a time of 8:21.87.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://omegatiming.com/File/Download?id=00010C010201001802FFFFFFFFFFFF02|title=2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials (swimming) – Women's 800-metre freestyle (final)|publisher=Omega Timing|access-date=2012-07-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523072745/http://omegatiming.com/File/Download?id=00010C010201001802FFFFFFFFFFFF02|archive-date=May 23, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> She also competed in the 400-meter freestyle and finished seventh in the final (4:09.17).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://omegatiming.com/File/Download?id=00010C010201001702FFFFFFFFFFFF02|title=2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials (swimming) – Women's 400-metre freestyle (final)|publisher=Omega Timing|access-date=2012-07-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120630101757/http://www.omegatiming.com/File/Download?id=00010C010201001702FFFFFFFFFFFF02|archive-date=June 30, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

At the [[2012 Summer Olympics]] in London, Ziegler swam in the fastest qualifying heat of [[Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 800 metre freestyle|800-meter freestyle]] and posted a time of 8:37.38, behind [[Rebecca Adlington]] of the United Kingdom and [[Lauren Boyle]] of New Zealand. Only the top eight swimmers of all five qualifying heats advanced to the 800-meter finals (with 8:27.15 as the slowest times of those eight), and Ziegler did not advance.<ref name="SR" />

===2015===
In May, Ziegler returned to competition after a two-year break.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://olympics.nbcsports.com/2015/05/13/kate-ziegler-swimming-olympics-comeback-charlotte/ |title=Kate Ziegler returns from 2-year swimming break, by way of Alaska, Australia |first1=Nick |last1=Zaccardi |date=May 13, 2015 |publisher=[[NBC Sports]] |access-date=December 11, 2015 }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Olympics}}
* [[List of United States records in swimming]]
* [[List of World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming (women)]]
* [[List of world records in swimming]]
* [[World record progression 800 metres freestyle]]
* [[World record progression 1500 metres freestyle]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{Official website}}
* {{World Aquatics}}
* {{Olympics.com profile|org_archive=20161005183001}}
* {{Olympedia}}
* {{USA Swimming|new_id=kate-ziegler|archive=20210602224233}}
* {{Team USA|new_id=kate-ziegler|old_id=ZI/Kate-Ziegler|archive=20230318124925}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-ach|rec}}
{{succession box|before=<br>[[Janet Evans]]|title=[[World record progression 1500 metres freestyle|Women's 1,500-meter freestyle<br>world record-holder (long course)]]|years=June 17, 2007 – July 30, 2013|after=<br>[[Katie Ledecky]]}}
{{succession box|before=<br>[[Laure Manaudou]]|title=[[World record progression 800 metres freestyle|Women's 800-meter freestyle<br>world record-holder (short course)]]|years=October 12, 2007 – December 12, 2008|after=<br>[[Alessia Filippi]]}}
{{succession box|before=<br> Laure Manaudou|title=[[World record progression 1500 metres freestyle|Women's 1,500-meter freestyle<br>world record-holder (short course)]]|years=October 12, 2007 – November 29, 2009|after=<br> [[Lotte Friis]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Navboxes
|title=Kate Ziegler – Navigation templates
|list1=
{{Footer USA Swimming 2008 Summer Olympics}}
{{Footer USA Swimming 2012 Summer Olympics}}
{{Footer World LC Champions 800m Freestyle Women}}
{{Footer World LC Champions 1500m Freestyle Women}}
{{Footer World SC Champions 400m Freestyle Women}}
{{Footer Pan Pacific Champions 800m Freestyle Women}}
{{Footer Pan Pacific Champions 1500m Freestyle Women}}
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ziegler, Kate}}
[[Category:1988 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American female freestyle swimmers]]
[[Category:Olympic swimmers for the United States]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Fairfax County, Virginia]]
[[Category:Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming]]
[[Category:World record setters in swimming]]
[[Category:Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m)]]
[[Category:Female long-distance swimmers]]
[[Category:Chapman University alumni]]
[[Category:21st-century American sportswomen]]