Schwendenwein Makes Finals in 200 Free at WUG

By Robert H. Kelly
Copyright 2009 TexSport Publications

BELGRADE, SERBIA (July 9, 2009) Former University of Houston swimmer Sasha Schwendenwein blasted her way to a semifinal time of 2:01.12 in the 200-meter freestyle to qualify for the finals at the World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia.

Schwendenwein finished in second place in her preliminary heat with the time of 2:00.79 to qualify for the semi-finals later in the day.

She finished in fourth place in the second heat of the semi-finals to qualify for her second finals of the Games.

Earlier in the week, the former Cougar swimmer also made the finals of the 100-meter butterfly, where she battled to an 8th place finish with the time of 1:00.62 her finals time was a bit slower than her preliminary effort of 1:00.05 and her semi-final time of 1:00.24

On Friday, she will compete in her speciality, the 200-meter butterfly, in which she is the seventh overall seed. Barring any unforeseen problems, she will swim the semi-finals of the 200-meter butterfly and the finals of the 200-meter freestyle in the evening session.

Previously in the Games, Schwendenwein finished in 22nd place in the preliminaries of the 50-meter butterfly and the 100-meter freestyle.

During her college career, she was a four year letterwoman for the Cougars and qualified for the NCAA Swimming Championships in 2009, finishing in 16th in the finals of the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:57.48.

She also finishing 21st place at the NCAAs in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:41.73 establishing a new school record.

Schwendenwein is competing for Austria in the Games, as she hold dual citizenship with both Austria and South Africa. After the completion of the Games, she will compete in the Austrian National Championships on August 5-9, 2009.