Cierra Runge (born March 7, 1996) is an American competition

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

Career

Runge was born in

Cochranville, Pennsylvania Cochranville is a census-designated place (CDP) in West Fallowfield Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 668 at the 2010 census. It is the hometown of Olympic swimmer Cierra Runge. Geography Cochranville is l ...

, to Scott and Diane Runge. She is a 2014 graduate of Octorara High School. She was on the Jennersville YMCA swim team when she was younger (Now KJAY Swim Team). She attended the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

her freshman year under

Teri McKeever Teri McKeever (born c. 1962) is an American college and Olympic swimming coach. She has been the head coach of the California Golden Bears women's swimming team at the University of California, Berkeley, since 1993. Her Cal Bears teams have won ...

and afterwards took a whole year off to focus her efforts on making the 2016 U.S. Olympic team. Runge came back to collegiate swimming attending the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

, where she swam for head coach Whitney Hite. For her last two years of NCAA eligibility, she transferred to

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

, where she worked with Bob Bowman. At the 2012 United States Olympic Trials in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

, Runge placed 25th in the 100-meter freestyle and 26th in the 50-meter freestyle. In 2013, she competed at the World Junior Swimming Championships and won four medals including gold in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay. At the 2014 US National Championships, the qualifying meet for both the

2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships The 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, also known as the 2014 Hancock Prospecting Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, a long course (50 m) event, was held in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, from 21 to 25 August 2014. Qualifying cr ...

and the

2015 World Aquatics Championships The 16th FINA World Aquatics Championships, FINA World Championships (russian: Чемпионат мира по водным видам спорта 2015), also Aquatics 2015, were held in Kazan, Russia from 24 July to 9 August 2015. Russia host ...

, she finished second in the 400- and 800-meter freestyle, and 6th in the 200-meter freestyle. At the

Gold Coast, Australia The Gold Coast is a coastal city in the state of Queensland, Australia, approximately south-southeast of the centre of the state capital Brisbane. With a population over 600,000, the Gold Coast is the sixth-largest city in Australia, the nati ...

, Runge placed 2nd in the 400-meter freestyle, 4th in the 1500-meter freestyle, and 5th in the 800-meter freestyle. In the 400-meter freestyle, she finished behind teammate

Katie Ledecky Kathleen Genevieve Ledecky (born March 17, 1997) is an American competitive swimmer. She has won seven Olympic gold medals and 19 world championship gold medals, the most in history for a female swimmer. Ledecky's six individual gold medals at ...

, who set a world record.Jason Marsteller,
Katie Ledecky Smashes 400 Free World Record, Nearly Clears 3:58! (Pan Pacific Championships Results)
" ''Swimming World Magazine'' (August 23, 2014). Retrieved March 3, 2015. She most recently won a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in the 4 x 200 freestyle relay.

References

External links

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Cierra Runge
– University of California athlete profile at CalBears.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Runge, Cierra 1996 births Living people American female freestyle swimmers California Golden Bears women's swimmers Wisconsin Badgers women's swimmers Arizona State Sun Devils women's swimmers World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics People from Chester County, Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Pennsylvania Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics