Kinder, Troxel excel at nationals

Hannah Kinder showed the state of Missouri her swimming talent last spring, capturing two state medals as a sophomore at Central High School.

She has continued her excellence over the summer, taking home four first-place finishes at the AAU Junior Olympic Games that took place Aug. 2 through 5 in New Orleans. Competitors in the 15- to 18-year-old girls freestyle events simply could not compete with the soon-to-be junior, as Kinder won the 50 free, 100 free, 200 free and 400 free.

Despite the strong showing, Kinder fell just short of her goal heading into the meet.

"I was hoping to get a U.S. Open cut in the 50 free and 100 free," Kinder said.

Kinder's time in the 100 free of 1:00.83 fell about two seconds short of the U.S. Open mark of 58.59. In the 50 free, Kinder nearly set a AAU Junior Olympic record with a time of 27.88. The U.S. Open mark in the 50 free is 27.19.

Kinder said she was pleased to break 28 seconds in the 50 free and hopes to get another crack at the U.S. Open times before the meet takes place in December.

"I was really hoping to get them at New Orleans, but I'll have other chances," she said.

Along with her four titles, Kinder also finished second in the 200 backstroke and third in the 100 backstroke.

Competing at the AAU Junior Olympic Games was just part of another summer spent in the pool swimming for the Gator Swim Team.

"You can't really take a break," Kinder said. "It's hard to get back."

Troxel dominates

Jackson graduate and Gator Swim Team member Steffan Troxel, who will swim at Indiana University this fall, dominated the 15 to 18 boys field in New Orleans. Troxel set three AAU records en route to nine first-place finishes, including six individual titles.

"It was a good experience overall," Troxel said. "Just being able to go down there and put on a good show."

In several of his events, Troxel simply swam away the field, especially in the 1,500 free-style event. Troxel set a new AAU record with a time of 16:25.88, nearly 5 seconds ahead of the old record and more than a minute in front of the second-place finisher.

In the 400 free, Troxel beat the old record by more than 2 seconds in a time of 4:09.20 and finished more than 20 seconds ahead of the next-best finisher. Troxel also set the record in the 200 free in 1:57.08. Other individual titles for Troxel came in the 200 butterfly, 200 IM and 400 IM.

Troxel said he was especially pleased with his 200 free, which he put up a personal best by nearly a second.

"I was real happy about that one," he said.

Teaming with three fellow Gator Swim Team members, Troxel also helped the Ozark region capture the 400 medley relay as well as the 200 and 400 free relays.

Troxel's summer is just a warm-up for the competition he will face with Indiana in the Big Ten. Indiana will get an early test when it travels to 2004-05 NCAA champion Auburn on Oct. 14.

"I really want to make the NCAA Championship, I want to qualify for that," Troxel said. "That's my biggest goal for next year."