2014 Arena Grand Prix at Santa Clara
Women’s 800 Freestyle – FINALS
Cierra Runge dropped 9 seconds to win the women’s 800 freestyle for a new personal best time. She was right with her teammate, Lotte Friis, for a majority of the race. The last 100 she really picked up her intensity and finished strong. Runge touched the wall at 8:26.71 and Lotte Friis finished second at 8:27.26. Brittany MacLean had the third fastest time at 8:29.51. Elizabeth Beisel had a spectacular meet, dropping 18 seconds from her seed time to finish fourth. The 800 was a timed final event, and she wasn’t selected to swim in the final heat. She had the fastest time out of the morning heats and it was enough for a fourth place finish.
Well her 1:44 200F (LC to SC) isn’t too shabby, but you are right: she can relieve
Missy from the 500 next year (maybe!) So Missy should be swimming more backstroke in her final year at Cal where she is fairly decent (wink!).
A couple of years ago I saw Runge mainly as a sprinter. Then last year I started to see her as more of a mid distance swimmer. I guess she’s now truly a distance competitor as well.