Last summer Bishop O’Connell’s Kate Ziegler came up a few seconds short of making the U.S. Olympic swim team. She finished fifth in the finals of the 400 freestyle and fourth in the finals of the 800 freestyle at the U.S. Olympic time trials in Long Beach, Calif.

That disappointment seems like a distant memory now that Ziegler, 17, won two gold medals at her first world championship last week in Montreal. Her time of 16:00.41 in the July 26 finals of the 1500 meter freestyle was the third fastest in history and just eight seconds off the world mark held by U.S. swimming legend Janet Evans. It also was 26 seconds faster than the time she swam earlier in the preliminary round.

"Yesterday my race felt awful," Ziegler told the Washington Post about her swim in the preliminary round of the 1500. "I knew that just wasn’t the way I usually swim it."

Ziegler, a rising senior at O’Connell, also placed first in the 800 freestyle on July 30. Her time of 8:25.31 was five seconds faster than her previous best time and topped Canada’s Brittany Reimer by more than two seconds. The two 17-year-olds anticipate a long and heated competition in the distance events over the next few years.

"It helped a lot to have done well in the 1500," Ziegler told the Post. "I had a lot of confidence."

A three-time All-Met selection and the Washington Post’s swimmer of the year in 2005, she trains year-round with the FISH, a local swim team coached by Ray Benecki. She set a national private school record last season in the 500 yard freestyle. Ziegler’s parents, Don and Cathy Ziegler of Great Falls, were in Montreal to witness their youngest daughter’s dramatic accomplishments.

For the rest of her teammates at Fish, it was business as usual last week as they gathered at a Reston pool in the early morning light. Obviously proud of Ziegler’s milestone, Benecki was in good spirits as he quickly put the rest of his team through their daily paces. Several swimmers will head to Buffalo in early August to compete in an eastern regional competition.

Ziegler doesn’t get to dwell too long on her two world titles. She heads to California this week to compete in the U.S. National Championships — along with O’Connell sophomore Caitlin Marsilii of St. Philip Parish in Falls Church.

Ziegler added to her impressive resume by winning the 400 meter freestyle on Aug. 1 during the "Dual in the Pool" competition between U.S. and Australian swimmers. She then won the 800 meter freestyle Aug. 3 at the U.S. Nationals, finished second in the 400 meter freestyle and won gold in the 1,500 meter freestyle.