VanWinkle Advances to 400-IM Finals
March 21, 2008 | Swimming & Diving
March 21, 2008
Posting a time of 4:12.43 in the 400-IM, University of Louisvlle junior Leslie VanWinkle, qualified 13th and earned a swim in the finals of the 2008 NCAA Swimming and Diving National Championships Friday at McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion in Columbus, Ohio.
Her strongest event, VanWinkle actually negative split the final two legs of her race, going 28.48 and 27.69 in the grueling race, making her the first ever woman to final in the NCAAs for the University of Louisville. The final two splits were in the top four of the entire field. She had the fastest breaststroke split and fastest overall final 200-yards against the fastest swimmers in the country.
"She just made up her mind that she was not going to be denied," said U of L coach Arthur Albiero. "She swam a great race, it wasn't exactly how we mapped it out but she made it work on the fly. She got the jitters out yesterday in the 200-IM and felt great today. This is a great day for Cardinal swimming."
