Cierra Runge had to put her disappointing swim in the 400 freestyle on the first day of the FINA world championships behind her in order to be at her best for the prelims of the 800 free relay today. She did the job she needed to do, helping the Americans qualify for the final.
She finished ninth in the 400 free prelims, missing out on her goal of swimming in a final at her first world championships. Over time, she started to come to grips with the outcome.
“I got ninth at worlds, and that’s not too … bad,” she said. “Once I let it sit, and let it go, I started to come to accept it and brush it off and get ready for the relay.”
Listen To Interview On Swimming World
Like many experiencing their first world championships, Runge said nerves played a big factor in her subpar performance.
“My paces were good, and I had a really good (training) camp, and there just wasn’t something there (in the race,” she said. “For me, it was a learning experience to prepare myself for next year for Omaha, and hopefully, for Rio.”
Runge learned that it’s necessary to swim fast in the prelims of a major international meet, something she said she doesn’t necessarily need to do when swimming in a domestic meet.
“Most of the time, it’s like ‘(Swim in) prelims, get a lane (in finals) and go,’” she said. “But, when you don’t get a lane, you don’t get in finals.”
