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Aug. 16, 2003
SANTO DOMINGO – Third-year University of Virginia swimmer Michael Raab (Rockville, Md./Walter Johnson) broke his own Pan American Games record in winning the gold medal in the 200-meter butterfly Friday evening (August 15) in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Second-year Rachael Burke (Bethesda, Md./Good Counsel) became the fourth Cavalier swimmer to medal in the Pan Am Games as she won a silver in the 800-meter freestyle.
In the prelims of the 200 butterfly Friday morning, Raab broke former UVa swimmer Shamek Pietucha’s 1999 Pan Am Games record with a time of 1:57.54. In the finals Friday evening, Raab shaved two-tenths of a second off his record, winning the gold medal with a new record time of 1:57.33.
Burke took the silver medal in the 800-meter freestyle with a personal-best time of 8:37.61. The USA’s Morgan Hentzen won the gold medal as she swam a personal-best time of 8:36.54.
All four Virginia swimmers competing in the 2003 Pan American Games have won medals. Raab won the gold in the 200 butterfly, while Burke, second-year Fran Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa./Germantown Academy) and fourth-year Luke Wagner (Englewood, Colo./Regis Jesuit) have each won silver medals. Burke took second in the 800 freestyle, while Crippen was runner-up in the 400 free and Wagner was second in the 200 backstroke.
Crippen will swim the 1500-meter freestyle Saturday evening (August 16).