LSU’s breakout sprint star Amanda Kendall has been ruled out of the 2012 NCAA women’s championship after suffering a broken hand.
LSU junior swimmer Amanda Kendall suffered a non-swimming related injury and will have surgery on Wednesday,” LSU released in a statement. “She will not be competing at the NCAA Championships. No other information is available at this time.”
Later, independent sources confirmed that Kendall broke her hand on Saturday.
That’s a huge blow to the Tigers and their NCAA chances, especially their relays. They are still taking five swimmers, but will have to replace one of the top sprinters in the country with a middle-distance specialist (the Tigers’ 200 free relay was invited). Kendall was slated to score huge points in the 50 free, 100 free, and maybe the 100 fly as well.
This could potentially be a blow to Team USA as well. After a huge Pan Am Games meet, where she was a part of three relay titles and also won the individual 100 free, she was a definite candidate for the 2012 US Olympic Team. It’s not clear yet how long the injury will keep her out of training.
As a result of Kendall’s scratch, North Carolina’s Candace Cooper has been called up in the 100 back. She will also be entered in the 200 backstroke. This also gives North Carolina a huge medley relay boost if they choose to assemble one from their 6 invited swimmers. They now have the front-half (Cooper and Laura Moriarty) of their medley relay qualified.
Sounds like she could be a starter for their football team.
*While we appreciate all comments and want to provide a voice for everyone, we have taken the liberty to delete this comment as it attacks the character of the athlete and program.
Please keep all comments with respect to the issue at hand and not libelous. Thank you!
-Andy Scherer
It is not libelous to tell the truth. Folks want to know what exactly happened.
What a moron she is.
how did she get hurt? First Perdue and now Kendall ! Such awfulness