Fran Crippen meet features top swimmers
This week's TYR Fran Crippen Memorial Swim Meet of Champions will do its share of reflecting but it also could provide a few sneak peaks for later this summer.
The annual meet hosted by the Mission Viejo Nadadores has been renamed in honor of late swimmer Fran Crippen, who died during a FINA Open Water 10K World Cup race in United Arab Emirates in October.
Crippen, a contender for the 2012 Olympics, joined the Nadadores in 2006 after finishing his eligibility at Virginia. He trained in Mission Viejo through the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials.
The meet also will serve as the final tuneup for several medal contenders headed to the FINA World Championships next month in Shanghai, China.
Chloe Sutton of the Nadadores won't be rested this week but she will be challenged by two of her U.S. teammates, Katie Hoff, and Kate Ziegler, of Fullerton-based FAST.
Sutton and Ziegler are expected to go in the meet-opening 800-meter freestyle Thursday night at 5.
On Friday, Sutton, 19, is likely to duel against Ziegler and Hoff in the 400 freestyle.
Sutton and Ziegler also are entered in Sunday's 1,500 freestyle.
The meet runs Thursday through Sunday at the Marguerite Recreation Center in Mission Viejo. Finals start each day at 5 p.m.
