June 23, 2008

Spiders Thrilled For Shot At Olympic Team
Fred Jeter, Richmond Times-Dispatch

RICHMOND, Va. - This summer, two University of Richmond athletes hope to mix red and blue (their school colors) with red, white and blue (the color scheme for Uncle Sam).

Katie Sieben and Lauren Beaudreau are ready to dive into competition at Omaha, Neb., site of the U.S. Olympics trials, June 29-July 6.

Sieben, a rising junior from Seymour, Conn., will race in the 100-meter fly, and Beaudreau, a junior from Lafayette, Calif., will compete in the 200 and 400 IMs and 200 breast.

Both face daunting odds in Nebraska, based on seeds. Still, reaching the trials milestone represents the end of lifetime quests.

Dream games: "It's been my dream since I was a little girl - it's the pinnacle," Beaudreau said of the trials.

Sieben said, "It's every little kid's dream."

UR coach Matt Barany, while hoping for the best, isn't blind to the degree of difficulty.

"The trials will probably be faster than the Olympics themselves," he said. "There will be 1,000 women there with only 26 making the team."

Only top two in each event qualify for the Beijing Summer Games.

"Still, getting there is a wonderful achievement," Barney said. "Being in the pool with the world's greatest swimmers . . . it means a lot to our program."

UR's only other trials qualifier was Brooke Boncher in '04.

Underdogs: Sieben is seeded about 70th in the 100 fly. She realizes she'll have to cut at least two seconds off her personal record of 1:01.69.

Of Beaudreau's three events, her best seed is 30th, in the 200 IM, with a PR of 2:16. She'd have to slice several seconds to enter the hunt.

NOVA, too: Both Spiders, who led UR to the A-10 title, have also trained with NOVA Aquatics, the West End club that produced numerous other trials qualifiers.

Sieben was the A-10 rookie of the year in '07 and qualified this past winter for the NCAA meet in Columbus, Ohio. She won seven medals (five gold) at the A-10 championships. Beaudreau holds six UR records that all stand as A-10 championship records.

Format: All swimmers race in preliminary heats, with the top 16 advancing to the semifinals. From there, the top eight are left to contend in the finals for Beijing reservations.

Ever the optimist, UR assistant coach Kathryn Peterson concedes nothing.

"I think Katie and Lauren can both make finals," Peterson said. "And once that happens, it's all about heart . . . who wants it the most."