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NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane University women’s swimming and diving team added a trio newcomers as the swimming standouts Lena Hayakawa (Kamehameha, Hawai’i) and Paris Zhang (Epping, New South Whales, Australia) signed National Letters of Intent while diver Anise Muir (Alexandria, Virginia) committed to enroll with the Green Wave for the 2015-16 season, Tulane head coach Katie Robinson announced Tuesday.
The trio brings Tulane’s incoming freshman class to nine as swimmers Natalie Clausen, Nina Gonzalez, Lilly Morgan, Emily Ramier and Shelly Zelnick joined diver Caroline McCleary during the NCAA Early Signing Period back in November. All nine newcomers will have their full allotment of eligibility and are expected to add to the talents of a team slated to return 16 letterwinners from the 2014-15 roster.
“With the addition of these three highly qualified athletes, we will have a total class of seven swimmers and two divers to add to our family,” Robinson said. “We’ve covered a lot of our needs on the team with this group, making sure that we can completely field a quality line-up. I couldn’t be more grateful for such an outstanding and eclectic class of women. A lot of credit goes to assistant coach, Sarah Woodbury, and diving coach, Chris Devine, for their recruiting efforts. Not only are these nine women going to make waves here at Tulane athletically, they are also going to make waves academically. We have recruited a class that fits in so well with the vision of Tulane Athletics and we as coaches cannot wait to coach them into confident women of high character and leadership during their time with the Green Wave.”
A standout at the Mid-Pacific Institute and star with the Kamehameha Swim Club, Hayakawa signed with the Green Wave after posting top times of 1:03.97 in the 100 breast and 2:16.42 in the 200 breast during the 2014 Speedo Winter Junior Championships, 1:50.89 in the 200 free during the 2015 Speedo Championship Series-Federal Way. She also tallied high-water marks of 2:01.16 in the 200 fly, 4:25.92 in the 400 IM and 4:56.77 in the 500 free during the 2014 HI Hawai’ian Swimming Age Group SCY Championship.
Hayakawa is the top-rated swimmer in Hawai’i by CollegeSwimming.com and earned five career gold medals at the Mid Pacific Meet. In addition, she was selected to the 2014 Team Hawai’i-Oceana squad by the Hawaiian Swimming Oceania Selection Committee, won the 100 breast, 200 free, 400 IM and 400 medley at the 2014 Age Group State Championship, and won a bronze medal in the 400 meter IM at the 2014 Oceania Swimming Championship.
She was also named first-team ILH Swimming & Diving All-Star in the 200 free and 400 free relay garnering second-team recognition in the 100 breast and 200 medley relay as a senior. Hayakawa helped MPI win the Hawai’ian High School Athletic Association title in 2013, after posting victories in the 200 free, 200 medley relay and 400 free relay to go with a runner-up performance in the 100 breast, and again in 2015.
“Lena will immediately impact our team in the breaststroke events as well as various other events,” Robinson said. “We are so excited to welcome an athlete with such a high level of versatility to our team. I was impressed with her athleticism when I watched Lena swim at Junior Nationals this past December where she achieved multiple best times.
“Currently, she holds times in four events that would place her in the Top Eight at the American Athletic Conference, which goes to credit her club coach as well. In getting to know her, she has shown a resilient attitude to succeed and to remain focused. She swims well throughout the season as well as at her main taper meets which is an attractive quality that we look to utilize here at Tulane in our dual meets. We believe Lena will be a joy to coach and an aggressive competitor to push our team to reach new levels.”
Zhang, meanwhile, comes to Tulane from Pymble Ladies’ College in Sydney, Australia, and brings experience with the Macquarie University Swimming Club. Along the way, she posted top times (converted from meters to yards) of 23.12 in the 50 free, 50.59 in the 100 free, 1:49.05 in the 200 free, 26.46 in the 50 back, 55.72 in the 100 back, 2:03.47 in the 200 back and 2:05.15 in the 200 IM.
At the 2014 SMNW Summer Championship, Zhang finished second in the 50 meter back and 50 meter free, third in the 100 meter back, fourth in 200 meter IM and fifth in 100 meter free while helping the 4×100 meter medley relay finish third. During the 2015 NSW 13-18 Years State Age Championship, she finished seventh in the 100 meter back, eighth in the 100 meter free and 10th in 50 meter free.
“We are thrilled to welcome Paris to our family here at Tulane,” Robinson added. “Paris is an extremely bright young woman that impressed us greatly throughout the recruiting process. She has achieved a high level of success in the pool and will immediately impact our team in the sprint freestyle events and will likely help improve the success of our relays as well.
“Her current times would place her in the Top Eight within our conference in each of her individual events. We believe she has what it takes to win an individual conference title during her four years here. More so, she is a delight to be around and has a high level of maturity for her age. She is an excellent student who is interested in medical school following her undergrad degree here at Tulane. We foresee her growing into a strong leader on this team in years to come.”
Rounding out the incoming class is Muir, who has a combined 10 years of diving experience at Hayfield Secondary School, the Alexandria Dive Club at the AAU level and Hayfield Farm of the Northern Virginia Swimming League. At the prep level, Muir won the 2014 Virginia High School League’s 6A one-meter state title with a championship-meet record 397.50 and finished fifth in 2015 with a score of 339.90. Her career-best score in the three-meter springboard came at the 2014 Alexandria Invite when she scored a 313.55.
Muir won the Northern Virginia Swimming League All-Star Meet one-meter springboard in 2010 and 2011, finished runner up in 2014 and posted third-place showings in 2012 and 2013. She also added individual wins in the one- and three-meter springboards at the 2010 Carolina Big Dive AAU Invitational and added a one-meter victory at the 2011 ASD May Invitational.
At the USA Diving level, Muir participated in the Junior Region Championships from 2008-14, the Summer Junior Zone Championships from 2009-11 and 2013, the Alexandria Invite in 2014, the Age Group Nationals in 2013 and the Speedo Junior National Championship in 2010.
“Anise just recently turned her full focus to diving and brings a gymnast’s background to our up-and-coming program,” Devine said. “She’s an extremely hard worker and I feel confident that she will make great strides during her career here at Tulane.”
The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World. To reach our audience, contact us at newsmaster@swimmingworld.com.
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