JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com

Had an awesome chat with former Hempfield standout swimmer Joe Kinderwater, who qualified for the finals in the 1,500-meter freestyle this past weekend at the Olympic Trials in Nebraska. The former Black Knights’ distance specialist finished eighth in the finals and did not make the Olympic team. But he certainly had a sweet ride. Here’s my story from Wednesday’s New Era:

A year ago, Joe Kinderwater was swimming for Hempfield High School in meets at places like Golden Meadows, Lititz Rec and the Lancaster YMCA.

This past Sunday night, with a live national television audience tuned in on the peacock network, the former Black Knights’ standout was in the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb., in front of 14,000 red, white and blue-clad fans, with a shot at the Olympics on the line.

“It was the most amazing feeling ever … I still can’t believe it,” said Kinderwater, who qualified for the 1,500-meter (one mile) freestyle final in the Olympic Trials after clocking in with a personal best 15:22 in his preliminary heat last Saturday.

Kinderwater, a 2007 Hempfield grad who recently completed his freshman year at the University of North Carolina, knocked another second off his personal best, finishing in 15:21 in the final.

But he finished eighth out of eight swimmers in the final and did not make the Olympic team. The top two finishers – former Olympic medal-winners Peter Vanderkaay and Larsen Jensen – made the team and will compete in the 1,500 free for the U.S. in Beijing next month.

But what a wild ride it was for Kinderwater, the former L-L League and District 3 Triple-A distance champ.

“I really had nothing to lose,” said Kinderwater, who earned his Olympic Trial cut with a time of 15:50 in December 2005 when he was a junior at Hempfield – giving him two and a half years to prep for last weekend’s competition.

“I went into the Trials seeded 18th (15:31), so I was just happy to be there,” he said. “But my goal was to make the finals. I really wanted to make the finals. That’s been my goal.”

After a personal best effort last Saturday, Kinderwater was rewarded handsomely with a trip to the finals on Sunday. He found out he made the final eight after a 20-minute wait. He had to sweat out the final heat before clinching a spot in the finals, and did so taking a dip in the cool-down pool outside the main arena.

That also meant he had to compete in the grueling one-mile event in back-to-back days. And the second day had a trip to Beijing riding on it.

“I never did the mile two days in a row,” said Kinderwater, who is back in Lancaster County for some rest and relaxation before starting his summer swimming schedule, which includes a trip to Minnesota in August for the U.S. Open, where he’ll swim the mile.

“I was ecstatic when I dropped another second in the finals,” he said. “There was a lot of adrenaline going on.”

Kinderwater said the pool, built to fit in the middle of an arena, was fast – seven world records bit the dust during the Trials – and that he got a little extra speed thanks to his trusty new Speedo Fastskin LZR Racer suit, which sparked some lively debate during the Trials.

And he said he had some extra adrenaline pumping because the 1,500 final was the last event of the meet.

Kinderwater said the arena was still buzzing because just minutes before the mile finale, 41-year-old Dara Torres won the women’s 50-meter freestyle finale, setting a new world record in the process.

“Everyone in the stands was insane,” said Kinderwater, who was the youngest of the eight finalists. “It was so loud when they paraded us out there and announced which lanes we’d be swimming in. Everyone was screaming, but I wasn’t nervous. I just kept smiling.

“A lot of my family and friends told me that when they watched the finals on TV, I was the only one up there smiling. I was soaking it all in. I told my parents later that I was more nervous for States (at Hempfield) than for the finals of the Olympic Trials.

“It was like any other race … just on a bigger scale.”

A much, much bigger scale.

“I didn’t even expect to make the Trials, so I was just happy to go,” Kinderwater said. “Then this spring at the NCAA finals I finished fifth in the mile, and that’s when I really started getting serious about the Trials. That’s when I made the goal to make the finals.”

Kinderwater prepped for the Trials with nine practices a week, including double dips three days a week.

“It all paid off in the end,” he said.

Kinderwater has three seasons of eligibility remaining at North Carolina, where he earned All-American status in his first season. Later this year he’ll try and qualify for the Open Water National Championships, which are in Rome in 2009.

And he said he’ll take another stab at earning an Olympic Trial cut for the 1,500 free for the 2012 Summer Games in London.