Kate Zieglar is a world-class swimmer who is devoted to her Catholic faith. A board member of Catholic Athletes for Christ, she is making her Olympic debut in Beijing.

WASHINGTON (Catholic Online) – Kate Zieglar is dedicated to her sport but devoted to her savior. The 20 year-old from Great Falls, VA is a university student from George Mason University and a graduate of Bishop O’Connell High School in Northern Virginia.

In late June, Kate secured her place on the 2008 Olympic Team with a second place finish to Katie Hoff in the 400m freestyle. At the Olympics, her two events are the 400 meter and 800 meter freestyle.

Kate Ziegler, the 20-year-old from Great Falls who came here as a potential contender for two medals, swam well off her personal best time in preliminary heats of the 400-meter freestyle, but failed to qualify for the final on Monday, August 11.

On Sunday, in the preliminary heats, she came in at 4:09.59 -- 14th-fastest in an event in which only the top eight advance. Her teammate, Katie Hoff, did advance and took the silver medal in the finals.

Ziegler has tried to remain positive after her first Olympic experience. "Obviously it was, you can see from the time it wasn't very good," she told reporters.

"But I had this realization right before the race. I was like, 'I'm swimming at the Olympics.' So while I'm really disappointed, I'm also like that was the coolest experience of my life. I'm not going to look back on it and remember the time. I'm going to look back on it and tell my kids, 'I swam at the Olympics.'"

"I think I tried to tell myself I wasn't nervous, but I was," she said. "Yesterday, I went through a little period of mid-taper slump kind of feeling, but the past two days I felt great. And then today I got back in the water and was like, 'Ugh. I'm tense.' I think that was nerves coming through."

Ziegler is a world-class swimmer who won two gold medals at the 2005 World Aquatic Championship Games and became on the second women in history to break the 16 minute mark in the 1500 meter freestyle event. She loves her Catholic faith and is the youngest advisory board member of Catholic Athletes for Christ.