Julianne Kirchner (born December 19, 1991) is an American and Marshallese swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. Having moved with her family to the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...

at a very young age because of her father's occupation, Kirchner acquired a dual citizenship to participate internationally for her new homeland in swimming at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. Kirchner was one of the five athletes to mark an Olympic debut for the

at the

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, competing in the women's 50 m freestyle. She established a personal best of 30.42 to take the fourth spot and seventy-fifth overall in heat three of the morning prelims, failing to advance to the top 16 semifinals. Kirchner is currently a member of Kwajalein Swim Team in the Marshall Islands under the tutelage of her personal coach Sarah Stepchew.

References

External links

*
NBC Olympics Profile
1991 births Living people Sportspeople from Florence, Alabama Marshallese female swimmers American female swimmers Olympic swimmers of the Marshall Islands Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Marshallese female freestyle swimmers American female freestyle swimmers Marshallese people of American descent American expatriates in the Marshall Islands 21st-century American women {{Oceania-swimming-bio-stub