University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Swimming and Diving Sweeps Big Ten Weekly Awards
1/3/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
Jan. 3, 2012
The Minnesota men's and women's swimming teams started 2012 on an exciting note as they swept the Big Ten Weekly Swimmer of the Week awards Tuesday morning. Kyler Van Swol was named the men's Swimmer of the Week, while CJ Smith earned the men's Freshman of the Week honor. On the women's side, Tori Simenec garnered both Swimmer and Freshman of the Week accolades.
The Gophers closed out 2011 by notching a pair of wins at Hawaii Saturday afternoon at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatics Complex as part of their winter training trip. The Gopher women improved to 6-0 on the year with a 201.5-59.5 victory, while the men picked up their second win by outscoring the Rainbow Wahine, 178-82.
Van Swol earned his second weekly honor of the season after recording four first-place finishes Saturday. The sophomore claimed titles in the 200 medley relay (1:33.18), 100 butterfly (49.06), 200 butterfly (1:50.26) and 200 freestyle relay (1:21.50), while also finishing second in the 200-yard individual medley (1:53.29).
Smith picked up his first-career Freshman of the Week honor by placing first in the 500 freestyle (4:32.26) and 1,650 freestyle (15:36.55) in Minnesota's win against the Rainbow Wahine. The rookie also notched a fourth-place finish as a member of the 200 freestyle relay team with a time of 1:26.59.
Also picking up her first Big Ten weekly honors was Simenec, who swept the women's awards to be named both the Swimmer and Freshman of the Week. The rookie recorded four first-place finishes in Minnesota's win over Hawaii. She finished first in the 100 butterfly (55.29), 200 butterfly (2:03.86), 200 medley relay (1:44.59) and 200 individual medley (2:04.41).
Following Minnesota's winter training trip, both the men and the women will return to action on the road at Missouri Jan. 14, before hosting the Big Ten Triple Duals vs. Purdue and Wisconsin Jan. 27-28.
Players Mentioned
