Anchorage Daily News

Swimmer Genny Szymanski of Haines will compete at the U.S. Olympic trials beginning Sunday in Omaha, Neb., hoping for a berth on the U.S. Olympic team headed to Beijing in August.

Szymanski swam the 200-meter backstroke at the post-NCAA invitational meet to qualify for the trials.

Nine of Szymanski's college teammates at Northwestern will join her in Omaha.

"I think we're training harder than we do during the college season," Szymanski told the Northwestern Web site. "We are swimming long course five times per week, which is so much different and harder than what we are accustomed to. Plus, there are no dual meets to break up the training."

An athlete must place first or second in a Trials final in order to make the Olympic Team. Szymanski is seeded 44th out of 94 competitors.

A 5-foot-9 junior to be, Szymanski was Northwestern's top backstroker this season. She was fourth in the 200 backstroke at the Big Ten Championships in 1:57.05, her personal best, breaking a seven-year-old school record. She finished 23rd in the event at the NCAA championships.

"The fact that she's there is just incredible," said her mother, Randa Szymanski, in Haines. "Everybody here is pretty excited."

The 200 backstroke preliminaries and semifinals are July 4, with the final the following day.