Miller Wraps Up Summer Training at US Nationals
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – And now she rests. After lowering her Olympic Trials cut in the 200-meter medley on opening day of the 2016 Phillips 66 US Nationals meet, Kansas senior-to-be Chelsie Miller concluded a busy weekend and summer with swims in the 400-meter individual medley and 200-meter butterfly.
The Houston, Texas native opened the USA Swimming’s National Championship meet by climbing 10 spots from her seeded position and finished second in her heat in 2:17.34, then returned to the pool for the 400-meter individual medley Saturday and 200-meter butterfly on Sunday.
“It was a good meet overall,” Miller, the seventh overall seed in the 400 IM before settling for a spot in the B final, said. “The times just weren’t what we wanted but it was a lot of fun to swim with SwimMAC and getting to represent Fleet.”
Miller ran out of energy down the final stretch in her marquee event, finishing fifth in the last of 11 heats with a swim of 4:48.41. It was the 14th-fastest prelims time in the field of 80 and put Miller in the second final but she was unable to improve her time later Saturday evening.
Miller competed in her final event, the 200-meter butterfly, Sunday morning. In heat five of 11 Miller finished sixth with a time of 2:17.72.
Concluding her performances, Miller elected to swim the 100-meter breaststroke time trials with hopes of qualifying for her second Olympic Trials event. The Kansas All-American turned in a time of 1:13.51, missing the cut by two seconds.
The swims at San Antonio’s Northside Aquatic Center served as the finale of Miller’s summer season. She will head back to Lawrence, Kansas in the coming weeks for her senior campaign with the experience of training with the world’s most elite athletes and an improved mental approach.
“The whole season was a great experience,” Miller said, reflecting on her summer. “I learned so much about myself as a person and as a swimmer. I’m excited to get back to Kansas and share everything that I’ve learned.”
Miller wasn’t the only Jayhawk represented at the meet, as former Kansas swimmer Danielle Herrmann also took part in last weekend’s event. The 2009 alum competed in the 100-meter breaststroke (1:11.58) and was a member of the 4×100 medley relay (4:17.30).
Kansas will begin the 2015-16 season on Oct. 2 with an intrasquad meet before opening the regular season with a double dual against Denver and Missouri State, Oct. 23-24. Both meets will be held inside Robinson Natatorium.
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