University of Richmond Athletics
Lauren Beaudreau Wins 200 IM At Junior Nationals; Logs Three Olympic Trial Qualifying Times
08/14/2006 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Aug. 14, 2006
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Rising sophomore Lauren Beaudreau broke the Speedo Junior National Championships meet record in the 200 IM this past week enroute to bettering her 2008 U.S. Olympic Trial qualifying mark. Beaudreau logged a 200 IM time of 2:18.38 at the meet held in Irvine, Calif. Her time was more than half a second better than her previous Olympic Trial qualifying time of 2:18.95 set in early July.
"Lauren made the decision to stay at Richmond for summer classes," Richmond head coach Matt Barany said. "After a busy May and a great performance in the classroom, she was able to focus on improving her swimming. We made the decision to not attend U.S. Nationals, which started Aug. 1 because we valued another week of development."
The Lafayette, Calif., native who was competing for NOVA of Virginia Aquatics, also swam both the 200 breast and 400 IM events at the Junior National Championships. Beaudreau turned in a 10th-place finish in the 200 breast with an Olympic Trial qualifying time of 2:35.89. She swam a 4:53.44 in the 400 IM, which placed her second and also qualified her for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials.
"Junior Nationals allowed us an additional week of training and also an opportunity to swim prelims and finals," Barany said. "She made the most of every swim in Irvine. She has more room to improve and we are anxious to begin her improvement alongside her Richmond teammates starting in September."
Beaudreau, who became the first freshman in Richmond school history to qualify for the NCAA Championships last spring, will now be invited to attend the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in three events (200 IM, 400 IM and 200 breast), June 30-July 7, in Omaha, Neb.
