March 1, 2010
The Purdue women's swimming and diving team sent a small group to Columbus, Ohio, for the Ohio State Last Chance Qualifier on Sunday.
"Our swimmers really competed hard," head coach John Klinge said. "We had quite a few lifetime-best times. I'm really proud of the effort, attitude and heart they displayed yesterday."
Junior Allie Smith turned in the most impressive performance as she broke her program record in the 100-yard backstroke. The Green Bay, Wis., native completed the race in 53.60 seconds to lower the record of 53.62 she set on Feb. 19 during qualifying at the Big Ten Championships and improve her NCAA provisional-qualifying mark.
Sophomore Allison Frisbie and freshman Nora Brolsma led the group with three season-best times each. Frisbie, from Mountain View, Calif., set new personal marks in the 50 and 100 freestyle races by touching the wall in 24.95 and 54.66, respectively, and added a time of 1:01.72 in the 100 butterfly. Brolsma, a Noblesville, Ind., native, earned a season-best time of 57.08 in the 100 butterfly, and also clocked a 24.50 in the 50 freestyle and a 1:54.36 in the 200 freestyle.
Sophomore Susie Fawcett and freshman Katie Guell added two season-best showings each. Fawcett knocked her 100 breaststroke time down to 1:07.53 and her 200 breaststroke down to 2:24.57, which represented an improvement of three and a half seconds. Guell lowered her season-best time in the 500 freestyle by almost six seconds with a 5:06.11 time and then took down her 1,650 freestyle mark by more than 16 seconds by completing the race in 17:03.15.
Sophomore Sarah Dunleavy and freshmen Megan Roach and Katie Hingst each recorded one season-best time. Dunleavy chopped more than one second off of her season-best clocking in the 50 freestyle by finishing the sprint in 24.30. Hingst lowered her season-best time in the 400 IM by more than four seconds to 4:33.41, and Roach dropped her season-best time in the 200 breaststroke to 2:19.46.
Thirteen different Boilermakers have clocked 20 individual NCAA provisional-qualifying times in the pool this season. In addition, all five of Purdue's relays have bettered the provisional standard. The field for the NCAA Championships, set to be held March 18-20 inside the Boilermaker Aquatic Center, is expected to be announced Wednesday evening.