April 4, 2003
Indianapolis, Ind. - Tara Kirk captured her first USA Swimming national championship by winning the 100 meter breast at the 2003 ConocoPhillips Spring National Championships on Friday at the Indiana University Natatorium. Kirk, the American record holder and three-time NCAA champion in the 100 yard breast, finished the long course version of the event in a time of 1:08.56.
"It's kind of been a goal in the back of mind to win a USA Swimming national title," said Kirk. "But, the main thing I wanted to do was swim well against a great field and a lot of swimmers that I've never beaten before in a head-to-head race. The ultimate goal in long course competition is the Olympics, and this was a great step for me in reaching that."
"Plus, I wanted to catch up with my sister Dana," joked Kirk, referring to her younger sister and current Stanford teammate Dana that won the 2001 Summer Senior Nationals in the 100 fly.Kirk outraced collegiate rival Agnes Kovacs of Arizona State (1:09.28), Kristy Kowal (1:09.43) and 2000 Olympic champion Megan Quann (1:09.98).
"Tara swam a really solid and dominating race against some top notch competition," confirmed Stanford head coach Richard Quick.
Kirk is also scheduled to compete in the Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool versus the Australian national team on Sunday.
Former Stanford swimmer Misty Hyman, the 200 meter fly gold medal winner at the 2000 Olympics, also continued her comeback from a shoulder injury on Friday by winning the 100 meter fly in a time of 59.74.