United States Coast Guard Academy - Department of Athletics - Women's Swimming - Shadwick Named Swimmer of the Year; Bears Place 4th

WELLESLEY, MASS.--(2/21/10)--Junior Kim Shadwick continued her dominance on the third and final day of the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championships and earned Swimmer of the Year honors for her outstanding weekend performance.

Coast Guard placed fourth of the ten teams with 449 points while Springfield won the championship for the 10th straight season as the Pride totaled 839 points.

Shadwick shattered the NEWMAC and school records to capture the 1,650 freestyle for the second straight season with a time of 17:13.07 which also automatically qualifies her for the Division III NCAA Championships.

She won the 1,650 freestyle for the second straight season breaking the old NEWMAC open and meet record of 17:18.62 and breaking her own school record of 17:19.89 which she achieved at the NEWMAC Championships last season.

Kim had set a pair of NEWMAC Championship and school records and qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships in winning both the 200 freestyle (1:51.66) and the 500 freestyle (4:58.50) and took second place in a pair of relay events during the first two days of the NEWMAC Championships.

She broke four of her own records in the 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 1000 freestyle (10:22.43), and 1650 freestyle, these were each also NEWMAC meet and open records.

Shadwick will now compete at the NCAA Division III Championships at the University of Minnesota, March 17-20.

Also for the Bears in Day 3, sophomore Heidi Gayman, the defending champion in the 100 freestyle, was edged out by one one hundredth of a second and took second in the event with an NCAA “B” cut time of 53:03 while senior Amy Olson took second place in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:27.86.

Over the weekend, Gayman had 3 NCAA “B” cuts as her lead off leg of the 4x100 free relay (52.30) broke her own school record while junior Marie Canavan broke her own 11 dives record with a score of 326.65 breaking here old mark of 316.

The Bears relay teams broke several records as well as the 200 medley relay team of Sam Sworden, Olson, Erin Talbot, and Emily Zalewski broke an old record from 2002 1:51.80. The 400 medley relay team of Sam Sworden, Olson, Shadwick and Gayman swam a school record 3:59.41 also the first NCAA qualifying time for the women’s program. The 800 free relay team of Gayman, Maggie Owens, Zalewski and Shadwick posted a school record by four seconds and a NCAA “B” time of 7:47.09.