Swimming
Bremerton's Tara Kirk swims to world record at NCAAs

By Elliott Almond
Knight Ridder Newspapers

	Tara Kirk
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COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Stanford senior Tara Kirk emerged as a serious Olympic threat yesterday after a record-setting day at the NCAA swim championships.

Kirk, of Bremerton, became the first woman to break 65 seconds in a short-course pool in winning the 100-meter breaststroke in a world-record time of 1 minute, 4.79 seconds. She also became the first woman to win four consecutive breaststroke titles, finishing her college career 35-0.

Kirk's sister, Dana, finished second in the 100 butterfly, an indication she also is ready to challenge for a spot on the 2004 Olympic team.

For much of her career, Tara Kirk has worked in the shadows of another Washington breaststroker — Olympic champion Megan Quann. The two learned to swim in a public pool in Bremerton, where they became friends and rivals. Quann moved to Puyallup and became a two-time gold medalist while Kirk failed to make the 2000 Olympic team.

Kirk, 21, greatly improved at Stanford under Coach Richard Quick. Still, she never imagined dominating the breaststroke the way she has.

"It weighed on me in the last month," Kirk said of the unbeaten streak. "Our basketball team was 26-0, and then they were 26-1. I didn't want that to happen to me."

After setting a U.S. record in the morning preliminaries, Kirk wanted to beat the world mark of 1:05.09 held by Leisel Jones of Australia.

Dana Kirk, a sophomore, was so emotional that she waited to congratulate her sister. She jumped in the warm-down pool and told Tara, "I just had to calm down before I gave you a hug."

The University of Washington was represented by two swimmers at the championships.
 
Desiree Johnson, a junior, had Washington's best showing, placing 30th in the 100-meter backstroke in a time of 1:01.87.

Sharon Olson, a sophomore, competed in two events for UW, with a preliminary time of 2:02.70 in the 200 free and a 2:19.75 in the 200 individual medley.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company