Abby Niehoff came away with the title in the 200-yard freestyle in thrilling fashion for the Carson Tigersharks at the Far Western Swimming Championships.
Niehoff won the 200 free in the 9-10-year-old age girls division. Kiel Costella has also had impressive efforts so far for the Tigersharks at the meet, which is featuring more than 1,000 swimmers.
Niehoff dropped her personal best by two seconds in the preliminaries in the 200 free, finishing in two minutes, 13.79 seconds to be seeded first for the finals. She lowered her winning time by more than another two seconds in the finals, finishing in 2:11.45 to win by .03 of a second. Niehoff also placed ninth in the 100 individual medley in 1:14.11.
In the 15-16 boys division, Costella lowered his time by 18 seconds in the 1,650 free, placing ninth in 17:21.21. In the 200 butterfly, Costella had a personal best of 2:11.30 in the preliminaries.
In the finals, he lowered his time again, finishing in 2:10.80 to place seventh.
Costella will compete in the 400 I.M. and 1,000 free and Niehoff will swim in the 100 backstroke and 100 free today. Niehoff will swim in the 50 free and 200 I.M. on Sunday.
