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MOR'S SMITH 9TH IN 400 IM AT USA SWIMMING SPRING NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS!

LONG ISLAND, NY: Kirsten Smith, of the Marlins Of Raleigh, finished 9th winning the consolation final heat in the 400 IM at the 2007 USA Swimming Spring National Championships. Smith's time of 4:52.09 was a 2008 US Olympic Trials Qualifying time. Smith used a dominating turn from Backstroke to Breaststroke to move from 4th to 3rd. Then moved up to 1st after 300 meters in her heat. Smith held off a charge from Amy Modglin of Swim Florida to win her heat by .2. There was a moment of controversy as the scoreboard initially indicated Smith had been disqualified, however the call was overturned by the head referee as an incorrect call.

MOR's 800 Free Relay of Smith, Avery Pittman, Elizabeth Oliver, and Alex Hammerberg finished 34th with a time of 8:51.59. Smith also finished 15th in the 200 Backstroke on Wednesday with a time of 2:19.82, which is a summer Sr. National Qualifying time. The Spring Nationals feature numerous Olympians and National Team members and over 600 swimmers and over 250 teams. MOR is currently in 64th place in team standings with 11 points. "Kirsten wasn't too happy with her preliminary swim and came out very determined tonight. She swam a great race and qualifying for Olympic Trials is always exciting. She is a tough competitor and is swimming in a meet full of tough competitors." said MOR coach Paul Silver

MOR Achieved Silver Medal Status Once Again

The Marlins Of Raleigh Swim Team (MOR) has achieved the Silver Medal Status in USA Swimming's Club Excellence Program for 2005 by scoring 7974 points on the FINA Long Course Power Points Ranking System based on 2004 results. The top 16 scoring clubs were awarded Gold Medal status and MOR was the 24th ranked team in the Silver Medal category. This is up significantly from last year's score of 1722. There are over 3000 USA Swimming teams in the US. MOR has been recognized each of the 4 years that the Club Excellence Program has been in existance.

Swimmers scoring points for MOR included Jenna Rinaldi, Kelsy Smith and Kirsten Smith. Jenna competed at the 2004 USA Swimming Olympic Team Trials. Kelsy finished 5th at last summer's USA Swimming National Championships. Kirsten has qualified for the US National Jr. Team for 2005 and the 2008 USA Swimming Olympic Team Trials. The Club Excellence Program recognizes excellence in club operations and elite level Long Course Performance. A description of the Program is below.

"This is certainly outstanding recognition for our club and the hard work put in by our wonderful young athletes. We will continue to help young people dream to be the best they can be all the way up to the Olympic level. Last year we were awarded a grant for an underwater video system which we have used to help both our novice swimmers and national caliber swimmers." said MOR Head Coach Paul Silver.

MOR's Smith wins Gold Medal on final day of Victoria Championships.

Melbourne, Australia: Kirsten Smith, of the Marlins Of Raleigh Swim Team (MOR) won a gold medal in the 400 Free Relay on the final day of the Victoria Championships in Melbourne, Australia held Jan. 3-7 and site of the 2007 World Championships. Kirsten is at the meet as a member of the USA National Jr. Team and is serving as team co-captain.

Team USA won the meet with 1441 points and almost 400 points ahead of 2nd place. Kirsten, an Athens Drive HS sophomore from Cary, swam on the winning 400 Free Relay on Saturday which set a Victoria record of 3:49.23. She was joined on the relay by Megan Romano, Samantha Woodward, and Karlee Bispo. In addition, she placed 6th in the 400 IM (4:54.37), 7th in the 200 IM (2:20.73), 8th in the 1500 Free (17:25.60), 9th in the 100 Free (58.25) and 10th in the 200 Breast (2:41.84).

"Kirsten swam very tough at the meet in her first International competition. This experience will help her a great deal as she qualifies for more international competitions in the future. Winning a Gold Medal on the last day of the meet was a great way to wrap up the week. She improved her 100 Free time by 2 seconds to earn a spot on the winning relay! The MOR Swim Team is very proud of her efforts."

MOR is FAST at Sr. Champs

MOR swimmers are going fast in finals, showing great endurance and tough attitudes. Sr. National times have been swum by Kassia Shishkoff (1000 Fr), Kirsten Smith (400 IM, 200 Breast). In addition, those 2 turned in brilliant 1-2 finishes in the 200 Free and 500 Free. Top 8 finishes have been swum by Brian Parks, Alex Hammerberg, Suzanne Figuers, and Rachel Wrenn. Consolation finals swims turned in by Kim Dale and Hannah Lee. Bonus Finals swims by Gabi Shishkoff. MOR's B 800 Free Relay overachieved expectations and finished 12th! Look for MOR later. Results are at www.justswimmac.org