The United States’ 4×100 freestyle relay team at the world championships Friday enter the pool. From left, Natalie Coughlin, Madison Kennedy, Shannon Vreeland and Abbey Weitzeil. (Courtesy FINA broadcast via YouTube)
DOHA, Qatar, Dec. 5 – Avon’s Madison Kennedy won a silver medal Friday at the FINA Swimming World Championships (25m) swimming on the United States 4×100 meter freestyle relay team.
The Americans broke the existing world record with a time of 3:27.70 but so did Netherlands, which won the race in 3:26.53. The old record was 3:28.22 by a team from the Netherlands in 2008.
Kennedy swam the third leg in the race with teammates Natalie Coughlin, Abbey Weitzeil and Shannon Vreeland.
The Americans were the top team in qualifying in 3:31.02 with the Netherlands taking seventh in 3:34.88 but in the finals, the Dutch were outstanding. The U.S. had a 0.14 second lead after Coughlin led off the race but Femke Heemskerk gave the Netherlands the lead after the second leg with a split time of 50.58, the fastest of all the swimmers in the race.
Kennedy swam the third leg in 51.82 seconds and trimmed the Dutch lead to 0.12 of a second. But the Netherland’s Ranomi Kromowidjojo turned in the second fastest split of the race (51.01) to pull away from Vreeland, the American’s anchor swimmer.
It was the first world championship medal for Kennedy. Her split time of 51.82 was the fifth fastest in the finals.
The team set a new American record in the 4×100 relay, erasing the old record of 3:28.46 set by Coughlin, Jessica Hardy, Dana Volmmer and Missy Franklin at the 2011 Duel in the Pool in Atlanta.
The Netherlands celebrate during the medal ceremony for the women’s 4×100 freestyle at the World Swimming Championships Friday. The U.S., and Avon’s Madison Kennedy, third from the left, finished second. Italy was third. (Clive Rosel photo, Getty Images, courtesy of FINA)
Kennedy gets back in the pool on Saturday when she competes in the 50 meter freestyle. She is seeded 18th in the field of 130 entries with a time of 24.78 seconds. Kennedy is the top American in the race. Weitzel is close behind her 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. Preliminary sessions begin at 9:30 a.m. in Qatar, which is 1:30 a.m. on the East Coast. The finals begin at 6 p.m. locally and at 10 a.m., EST.
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.
With two days remaining, 12 world records have been set here in the 12th annual FINA short course World Championships. Five world records were set on Friday.
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.