Anna Kozlova hopes to become the sport's first-ever three-time Olympian when she takes to the waters of the Weyerhaeuser-King County Aquatic Center on Jan. 17 and 18 in the 2003 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Synchronized Swimming Duet.

The 2004 U.S. Olympic Duet will be the first two U.S. athletes selected for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

Kozlova, who turns 30 on Dec. 30, hopes to improve on her fourth-place finishes in duet at the 1992 Barcelona and 2000 Sydney Olympic Games with the help of partner Alison Bartosik. Bartosik, 19, is a native of Flagstaff, Ariz. who began her synchro career in Tucson in 1991. She has competed for the Santa Clara Aquamaids since 1995, and made her first National Team in 1998.

The pair is considered an early favorite based on their recent fourth-place finish at the FINA World Cup in Zurich, Switzerland.

Perhaps the duo's strongest competition will come from the young pair of Sara Lowe and Stephanie Nesbitt. Lowe, 18, was just 15 when she became the sport's youngest Olympic Trials competitor back in 1999. Lowe and partner, Nesbitt, 17, won bronze at the 2002 Junior World Championships after training just two months for the event.

The Trials are exactly 573 days before the Opening Ceremonies of the 2004 Olympic Games. The early date is necessary to prepare the team to compete in three major international events prior to the Games - the 2003 FINA World Championships, 2003 Pan American Games, and 2004 Olympic Qualifying Open.

The WKCAC facility has hosted more than a dozen national synchro competitions since the doors opened in 1990, including the 2002 Esynchro Age Group Championships (the world's largest meet), the 2001 Esynchro Junior World Championships and the 1999 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, plus the upcoming 2003 United Airlines Open slated for July 15-19.

2003 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Synchronized Swimming Duet
Entries as of Nov. 25, in alpha order with hometowns, club affiliation:

Alison Bartosik, 19, Santa Clara (Calif.) & Anna Kozlova, 30, St. Petersburg (Russia), Santa Clara
Victoria Bowen, 22, Plano (Texas) & Lindsay Newbill, 19, Boulder (Colo.), Ohio State
Janet Culp, 19, Littleton (Colo.) & Jennie Culp, 19, Littleton (Colo.), Santa Clara
Kate Hooven, 18, Pleasanton (Calif.) & Becky Kim, 17, Walnut Creek (Calif.), Walnut Creek
Sara Lowe, 18, Sunnyvale (Calif.) & Stephanie Nesbitt, 17, Riverside (Calif.), Unattached
Annabelle Orme, 15, Walnut Creek (Calif.) & Kim Probst, 21, Troy (N.Y.), Walnut Creek
Rachel Rife, 17, Clayton (Calif.) & Rebekah Rife, 17, Clayton (Calif.), Walnut Creek
(*one additional duet petition is outstanding at this time.)