CARTHAGE, Wisconsin, January 22. LAST week proved to be busy in the NCAA collegiate swimming ranks as swimmers are all back in action following holiday training trips. With that being said, National Swimmers of the Week awards were given out across all divisions by CollegeSwimming.com this week.
Special thanks to CollegeSwimming.com for providing the following release information on the winners:
Division I Women
Winning the Philip Hunsaker CollegeSwimming.com Women’s Division I Swimmer of the Week is Ohio State’s Alex Norris. Norris, a Cincinnati, Ohio native, enjoyed a record-breaking weekend at the Kenyon Winter Invite where she had a hand in establishing four pool records. She set individual marks in the 200-yard freestyle (1:48.33), 500-yard freestyle (4:48.51) and 400-yard individual medley (4:21.77) while also swimming on the record-setting 400-yard freestyle relay team (3:23.67). Overall, Norris swam in six events and finished first in five of them. As a team, the Buckeyes set five pool records, won 15 of 16 races and collected 795.5 points, ahead of Cincinnati (279), Oakland (246), Kenyon (244.5) and Ashland (140). Norris’ performance at Kenyon came a week after she was second in the 200-yard medley relay (1:45.38), 200-yard butterfly (2:03.00) and 100-yard freestyle (51.20) in a dual-meet victory over Toledo. “Alex has set herself up well for the Big Ten’s and NCAA’s,” said head coach Bill Dorenkott. “This is a nice recognition of the hard work she has put into her sport over the past few years.”
Division I Men
Indiana University Senior Eric Ress (Hebron, Conn.) posted a number of impressive swims in tri-meet action this past weekend with Iowa and Missouri. Ress swam an exhibition time of 47.69 in the 100 back, the second fastest at the meet. He also swam a B-cut in the 200 backstroke, winning with a time of 1:44.70. In his last individual event, Ress won the 200 IM in another B-cut time of 1:48.32. Ress also anchored Indiana’s B-relay with the third fastest split in the field of 44.83. His efforts have earned him the Philip Hunsaker CollegeSwimming.com Men’s Division I Swimmer of the Week.
Division II Women
LIU Post Junior Carolin Rademacher (Isernhagen, Germany), is the Philip Hunsaker Women’s Swimmer of the Week for Division II. In a dual meet against Division I Siena, Rademacher posted LIU Post top-5 all-time marks in three different events. She was first in each race as well. Rademacher clocked a 1:06.82 (fifth-best) in the 100-yard breaststroke, a 2:22.85 (fourth-best) in the 200-yard breaststroke, and a 4:29.54 (second-best) in the 400-yard individual medley.
Division II Men
Ashland Uinversity’s Philipp Sikatzki (Leipzig, Germany) showed he belonged in the elite company at the Kenyon Invite this past weekend that included host Kenyon, Ohio State, and Oakland Unviersity. He was second in the 100 backstroke (48.93) and third in the 200 IM (1:52.40). He was also part of the 400 free relay that was second, which included Sikatzki, Alex Sheil, Holder and Sanchis. They completed the race in 3:03.87, with Sikatzki leading off in a 45.54. The 200 free relay came home in 1:23.03. Sikatzki was joined in that effort by Jacob Miller, Sergio Sanchis Peris and Hueston Holder finishing second and leading off with a 20.63. The 200 medley relay finished third (Sikatzki split a 21.25 in the fly leg). The 200 medley lineup consisted of Sikatzki, Greg Walters, Sanchis and Miller. His efforts have earned him the Philip Hunsaker CollegeSwimming.com Men’s Division II Swimmer of the Week.
Division III Women
Julia Smachlo, a Bates College Freshman (Rexford, NY) had some impressive swims in dual meets against Colby and Bowdoin, helping her team win both meets in back to back days. Last weekend Smachlo won the 1000 free against Colby (10:37.87), the 500 against both Colby and Bowdoin (5:10.87, 5:11.72 respectively), and the 200 free against Bowdoin (1:57.10). Smachlo also took a second in the 1000 free at Bowdoin. Her gutsy swims in back to back days which included a season best drop of nearly 10 second in the 1000, have earned her the Philip Hunsaker CollegeSwimming.com Women’s Division III Swimmer of the Week.
Division III Men
Mantim Lee (FR – Hong Kong) – Won all three events he swam against Division I UW-Milwaukee while posting one of the fastest in-season 100 free times in the country with a 45.68. That time also broke a school record and was an NCAA provisional time. Mantim anchored the winning 200 medley relay with a 20.89 and led off the winning 400 free relay with a 47.13. The meet came down to the last relay with the University of Chicago falling short by just one point. His outstanding efforts have earned him the Philip Hunsaker CollegeSwimming.com Men’s Division III Swimmer of the Week.