Madison Kennedy before the 50 freestyle final at the recent U.S. national championship meet. (Courtesy U.S. Swimming)
In the next seven months, Avon’s Madison Kennedy will be representing the United States in two international swimming competitions. This week, Kennedy is in Qatar on the U.S. team at the 12th annual FINA World Swimming Championships that begin Wednesday.
She also been named to the U.S. team that will be competing at the 2015 Pan American Games on July 14-18 in Toronto. She is one of 20 U.S. national team members named to the Pan Am team.
Kennedy is competing in her first world championship meet in Doha, Quatar. She will be swimming in the 50 meter freestyle for the Americans and is seeded 18th in the field of 130 entries with a time of 24.78 seconds. Kennedy is the top seeded American in the race. Teammate Abbey Weitzel is close behind with a seed time of 24.80 seconds.
Preliminary races and the semifinals in the 50 freestyle will be Saturday in Qatar with the finals on Sunday night. This championship meet is called a short course meet, held in a 25-meter pool. It is held every two years. The Olympics are long course meets, which are held in 50-meter pools. The long course world championship meet will be held next year.
Earlier this year, Kennedy was named to the U.S. national team in the 50 meter freestyle for the fourth time in five years. She earned her invitation by finished fourth in the 50 freestyle at the recent U.S. national championship meet with a time of 24.83 seconds – her best-ever time at the national meet and the second fastest time of her career.
Kennedy graduated from Avon High in 2005 and the University of California in Berkley in 2010. She has been training with SwimMAC Carolina since November 2011.