The Denisonian

Issue date: 2/9/10 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Courtesy of denison.edu/athletics Senior Kate Rich will be key to the Big Red's postseason success.

With less than a week remaining before the 2010 NCAC Tournament, the Denison men's and women's swimming and diving teams have every right to be confident.

Both defending NCAC Champion teams will look to repeat and build on an extremely successful showing at last year's conference tournament, which saw the Big Red men capture their first NCAC title since 1997 and the women take home their first conference crown since 2004.

Currently, both teams are riding four-meet winning streaks that date back almost a month to when the Big Red defeated Wittenberg on the road. In addition, each team boasts proven top-level talent.

Since the Wittenberg victory, Denison has seen two of their swimmers be named NCAC Swimmer of the Week and National Swimmer of the Week.

Denison freshman Alyssa Swanson from Aurora, Colo. was awarded both honors. Most recently, Swanson was named NCAC Swimmer of the Week for her performance in a 217-80 victory against Carnegie Mellon on January 30. This award came just a week after CollegeSwimming.com named Swanson National Swimmer of the Week.

Sophomore Robert Barry from Richmond, Va. also received National Swimmer of the Week honors from CollegeSwimming.com because of his four impressive victories against Carnegie Mellon.

Right now, Barry is focused on repeating his performance last year, when he recorded two meet records in the 100 and 200 backstoke events.

"I'm just looking forward to NCAC's again. To try to beat Kenyon again would be nice," said Barry.

Head Coach Gregg Parini had great thngs to say about his sophomore standout's abilities.

"Robert's a huge piece of our success," noted Parini. "He's arguably one of the top backstrokers in the country."

With top performers like Barry and Swanson, Denison can expect quality results in the tournament.

However, Parini noted that even with the talent, the teams could potentially run into some problems come tournament time.

"On the men's side, this is not as deep a team as we've had in the past," said Parini.

Parini commented that the men have distinct advantages in the stroke events and in their diving team. Swimmers like Barry help Denison post strong finishes in events like the 100 and 200 backstrokes and Parini boasted that the men's divers are among the best in the country. However, the freestyle events could cause some problems for the Big Red men.

Continued...

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