Louisville Diver Else Praasterink Earns Third Straight ACC Diver of the Week
Louisville’s Else Praasterink was named the ACC women’s diver of the week for the third straight week to start the season, the conference announced Tuesday.
Praasterink is joined in the weekly honors by men’s diver Max Fowler of Georgia Tech, Virginia female swimmer Gretchen Walsh and Pitt’s Jerry Chen.
Praasterink swept both diving events in Louisville’s dual meet with Tennessee. The junior from the Netherlands scored 316.73 points to win 1-meter and 291.53 in prevailing on 3-meter.
Fowler starred in a pair of meets for the Yellow Jackets. He scored 343.95 on 1-meter and 413.55 on 3-meter to sweep the events in a dual meet loss to Georgia. He upped his 1-meter score to 384.00 in a dual with Emory, in which he also won 3-meter. His score against Georgia is the third-best in the nation this season.
Walsh was customarily dominant for the top-ranked Cavaliers in a win over Florida. She posted the top time in the nation this season in the 100 backstroke, winning in an NCAA A cut 50.29 seconds. She also won the 100 freestyle in 47.19, then went faster in the winning 400 free relay with a leadoff leg of 46.90, the fastest time in the nation. The junior swam backstroke on the winning 200 medley relay.
Chen, a fifth-year senior, performed well in a pair of challenging meets for the Panthers against Stanford and the University of California. He won both breaststroke events in both meets. He was quicker in both events against Cal, going 54.03 in the 100 and 1:57.83 in the 200. He also finished second in the 200 individual medley against Cal in 1:52.73.
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