April 19, 2000
STANFORD, Calif. - The Stanford women's swimming and divingteam has announced the signing of Tara Kirk (Bremerton, WA/Bremerton HS) toa national letter of intent to attend Stanford in 2000-2001. Kirk broke theAmerican record in the 50m breastroke (short course meters) three times atthe recent FINA Short Course World Championships to earn a bronze medal,posting a time of 31.47 in the final event.
"We are very excited that Tara Kirk has decided to continue her wonderfulswimming career at Stanford," said Cardinal head women's swimming coachRichard Quick. "Tara is the most important swimmer we have signed in severalyears. We need her expertise in the breaststroke and her strength ofcharacter. She will play a large role at Stanford in her freshman year."
"Tara has received excellent coaching at the club level from GabeMazurkiewicz," added Quick in reference to Kirk's coach with the Maki SwimTeam in Bremerton, Washington. "Gabe has done a great job in developing aninternational level swimmer."
In 1999, Kirk ranked among the world's best in the 50m breast (24th) and100m breast (26th).