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January 6, 2002 - Jamaica’s
swimming sensation Janelle Atkinson is now ranked second in the World
in the SwimNews Short Course 800 Metres Freestyle rankings.
Atkinson’s time of 8:20.13, swum at the United States Open on
November was second only to China’s Hua Chen, who leads the rankings
with a time of 8:15.15. Atkinson’s
time at the US Open (8:20.13) also set a new Commonwealth Record. Her
US Open times in the 400 M Free (4:05.39) and 200 M Free (1:59.15) are
ranked and impressive 7th and 24th respectively. With Atkinson’s sights firmly set
on the Commonwealth Games this summer, her competition in the 400 and
800 M Freestyle are becoming apparent as three Commonwealth swimmers
are interestingly positioned within 2 seconds of each other in the
rankings. In the 800 M Freestyle, Australia’s Amanda Pascoe and
Great Britain’s Rebecca Cook will look to challenge the Commonwealth
record holder, Atkinson. Pascoe is ranked third (8:21.27), just 1.14
seconds behind Atkinson and Cook fourth with a time of 8:21.47. The 400 M Freestyle is shaping up to
be just as exciting as Amanda Pascoe presently has the edge with her
time of 4:05.28 (ranked 6th), just ahead of Atkinson
(4:05.39) and another British girl, Nicole Jackson who swam 4:05.49
(ranked 8th) in Australia last August. Janelle Atkinson is presently attending and competing for the University of Florida. While she is participating in regular collegiate competitions, her next major challenge will be the NCAA Nationals in April 2002. |
