April 18, 2002

Oxford, OH - Anna Kozlova took her first step toward regaining her solo national title by edging teammate Bill May in the solo technical routine preliminaries on Thursday at the U.S. National Synchronized Swimming Championships in Oxford, Ohio.

Kozlova, 29, topped May 97.833 to 97.500 to take the lead. The two-time Olympian Kozlova won four consecutive solo crowns from 1996-1999, but turned the title over to May when she did not compete in the 2000 Nationals due to the Olympics. In their first showdown a year ago, May was victorious by a narrow 0.122 margin.

May got the best of Kozlova in duet. May teamed up with 2000 Olympian Kristina Lum to nab first in duet technical with a score of 97.500. The duo won the 1998 National title and went on to Goodwill Games silver. Kozlova and Alison Bartosik are second at 97.334, with Loveland's Becky Jastontek and second-year partner Tracy Long third at 95.500.

Santa Clara's all-American routine easily nabbed the day's high mark in technical team at 98.333. Swimming for Santa Clara were Bartosik, Kozlova, May, Tammy Crow, Sara Lowe, Lauren McFall, Andrea Nott and Kendra Zanotto. Jastontek, Long, and their Walnut Creek Aquanut teammates are second at 96.333 with Ohio State third at 94.334.

Technical routines are weighted to 50 percent and combined with 50 percent of Friday's preliminary free routine to determine the eight finalists in each event. In the final, the 50 percent free prelim score is replaced with 50 percent of the final free routine score.

Santa Clara is gunning for the club's 11th consecutive overall title and 10th consecutive team event title. More than 150 athletes from 21 clubs are on hand vying for national titles in the solo, duet and team events. Top athletes advance to the 2002 National Team Trials, May 3-5 in Columbus, Ohio.

Competition continues Friday with solos free preliminaries at 10:30 a.m. followed by duets at 2:15 and teams at 6:30. The competition is hosted by the Miami University Aquatic Center and the Cincinnati Synchrogators. Saturday's finals will be broadcast on a tape-delay basis on HDNet, a high definition satellite channel available on DirecTV and Dish Network. Complete results can be found at www.usasynchro.org. For more information, contact Brian Eaton at 317-414-7962 (cell).

Solo Technical
1, Anna Kozlova, Santa Clara, 97.833. 2, Bill May, Santa Clara, 97.500. 3, Lauren McFall, Santa Clara, 95.000. 4, Carolina Moraes, Ohio State, 93.500. 5, Gina Pietras, Walnut Creek, 92.834. 6, Tammy Crow, Santa Clara, 92.666. 7, Sara Lowe, Santa Clara, 92.166. 8, Alison Bartosik, Santa Clara, 91.334.

Duet Technical
1, Kristina Lum, Bill May, Santa Clara, 97.500. 2, Alison Bartosik, Anna Kozlova, Santa Clara, 97.334. 3, Becky Jastontek, Tracy Long, Walnut Creek, 95.500. 4, Lauren McFall, Andrea Nott, Santa Clara, 94.834. 5, Erin Dobratz, Katie Norris, Stanford, 93.834. 6, Isabela Moraes, Mary Hofer, Ohio State, 93.000. 7, Stephanie Nesbitt, Allison Wible, Riverside, 91.333. 8, Ashley McHugh, Gina Pietras, Walnut Creek, 90.833.

Team Technical
1, Santa Clara A, 98.333. 2, Walnut Creek, 96.333. 3, Ohio State, 94.334. 4, Riverside, 93.500. 5, Santa Clara B, 92.333. 6, Walnut Creek B, 92.000. 7, Ohio State B, 91.667. 8, Univ. of Alabama-Birmingham, 89.500.