Miriam Swisher
Miriam Swisher
Height: 5-11
Year: Senior
Hometown: Albuquerque, N.M.
High School: La Cueva
Major: Exercise Science

2016-17 Season: Became just the second competitor in Great Northeast Athletic Conference history, and first since 2014, to earn GNAC Swimming & Diving Athlete of the Year honors three years in a row and also earned All-Conference honors ... Named to the GNAC All-Academic Team ... Was the high scorer at the GNAC Championship, winning all four individual events in conference-record times in addition to helping Simmons to a pair of relay titles, while also establishing new GNAC standards in those events ... Received the Hutchinson Award, given to the Swimmer of the Meet for the New England Intercollegiate Swimming & Diving Association Championship, for the second straight year to become the first swimmer to earn the honor multiple times since at least 2009 ... Earned seven gold medals at the meet, placing first in all three individual events that she entered and was a part of winning relay teams in all four races that she competed in ... In addition to her winning ways during the meet, she also recorded a school-record time of 23.65 in a time trial to achieve the NCAA 'B' cut for the 50-yard freestyle ... Became the only competitor in school history to win three individual races at NEISDA and was also the recipient of the Kay Fromer Senior High Point Scoring Award handed out to the highest-scoring senior swimmer at the meet over the past four years ... Shattered her own school record in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:52.17 to place first in the consolation finals and ninth overall at the Eastern College Athletic Conference Open Championship and helped Simmons set school standards in the 400-yard freestyle, 800-yard freestyle and 200-yard medley relay events at the championship event hosted by United States Naval Academy, while posting top-seven efforts in all five relay events at the meet ... Won 23 of 24 individual races in dual meets and final heats of championship meets vs Division III competition and won all 13 freestyle events she entered, ranging from the 50 to the 1000, as well as all 10 backstroke races she entered against NCAA III competitors as well ... Her only non-victory was a second-place effort in the 100-yard individual medley ... Part of six school records, including a pair of individual marks and earned GNAC Swimming & Diving Athlete of the Week honors a league-best three times. 

2015-16 Season: Tabbed GNAC Swimmer of the Year for the second straight season and became the first Shark to do so in at least a decade ... Named to the GNAC All-Academic Team ... Earned GNAC Athlete of the Week honors five times to lead the conference in addition to being named the Eastern College Athletic Conference Swimmer of the Week once ... Set five individual school records and helped Simmons break one relay mark ... Posted 26 top-three finishes, including 24 first-place efforts ... Posted NCAA "B" cut qualifying times in five different events (50, 100 & 200-yard freestyle and 100 & 200-yard backstroke) ... Recipient of the Bruce Hutchinson Female Swimmer of the Meet award after winning a pair of events in school-record times at the New England Intercollegiate Swimming & Diving Association Championships from February 12-14 and earned All-NEISDA status in seven events, including four relay races ... Claimed the 200-yard freestyle in a meet-record time of 1:52.85 to better the former mark from 1993, while capturing the title in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:03.85 to become the first competitor in school history to win multiple events at NEISDA ... Placed second in the 100-yard freestyle at NEISDA with a mark of 51.90 ... Did not lose a freestyle race in the 50 or 100-yard events in dual meets, going a combined 9-0, while winning all five 50-yard backstroke races and all three 200-yard backstroke events that she entered ... Placed 19th at the ECAC Championships in three events and set a school record in the 50-yard backstroke with a split of 26.95 in the opening leg of the 200-yard medley relay ... Despite fighting illness, Swisher earned All-Conference status earlier in the season when she won the 100-yard freestyle and 50-yard backstroke at the GNAC Championship in December and helped Simmons break a pair of GNAC relay records with a time of 1:51.58 in the 200-yard medley relay and a clip of 3:45.59 to eclipse the former standard in the 400-yard freestyle relay.  

2014-15 Season: 
Named GNAC Swimmer of the Year ... Tabbed to the GNAC All-Academic Team ... Earned GNAC Swimmer of the Week honors a league-high eight times ... Scored a team-high 279.50 points and racked up 36 top-three finishes, including wins in 30 of 42 races that she entered, including six of nine 100-yard freestyle races she competed in and eight of nine backstroke races from the 50 to the 200 ... Competed in seven events at the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championship, including three individual races and broke the school mark with a time of 1:54.81 in the 200-yard freestyle to place 20th in the preliminaries ... Also swam in the ECAC consolation finals in both the 100 and 50-yard freestyle events, placing 13th and 12th with a season-best time of 24.01, respectively, while swimming the lead leg in all four relays for Simmons, swimming the backstroke laps of the 400-yard medley relay to help the squad to a fourth-place finals finish on a school-record effort of 3:56.80 in addition to helping the Sharks to a school-record time of 1:37.71 in the team's sixth-place finals showing in the 200-yard freestyle relay and also led off the 400-yard freestyle relay during an eighth-place showing prior to breaking the school mark in the event's preliminary heat with a time of 3:37.74 ... Scored 56 points and with a pair of second-place finishes in the 200-freestyle and the 50-freestyle at the New England Intercollegiate Swimming & Diving Association Championship on February 13-14 and also set a school record with a 50-yard backstroke split of 27.35 as part of a school relay-record time of 1:48.73 to place third in the 200-medley relay in addition to helping Simmons to a pair of third-place efforts in the 200-medley and 400-medley relays and a second-place finish in the 200-free relay ... Gained All-NEISDA status in five events ... Top scorer for the Sharks at the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship on December 6-7 with 36 points after winning all four events that she entered, while setting three GNAC and two pool records ... She won the GNAC 50-yard freestyle, 200-freestyle with a GNAC record (1:57.57) and set GNAC and pool records in the 50-backstroke (27.36) and the 100-freestyle (51.75), while also making the NCAA qualifier 'B' cut in the 100 ... In addition, she was a part of Simmons' 400-medley relay team that set a GNAC record with a time of 4:10.25 and helped the Sharks win the 200-free relay ... Began the season by winning her first 20 races of the campaign ... Won nine different individual events during the season ... Tallied double-digit points in nine dual meets, including three meets with a trio of first place finishes.

2013-14 Season: Won 26 of 36 events that she placed in, including nine of 12 backstroke events and 15 of 22 freestyle events and placed among the top three in all but one race that she entered ... Named GNAC Swimmer of the Week three times and the GNAC Rookie of the Week twice ... Racked up 36 points by winning all four events she entered at the GNAC Championships on December 7 and set pool and GNAC records in the 50-yard freestyle (24.29) and the 100-yard freestyle (53.12), while also breaking the conference mark in the 200-yard freestyle (1:58.28) ... Set four school records, while scoring 84 points on three second-place finishes at the New England Swimming & Diving Intercollegiate Association Championships on February 14 ... She set school records in the 50-yard freestyle (23.93), the 100-yard freestyle (52.81) and the 200-yard freestyle (1:57.30), while clocking a school-record standard of 58.21 in the 100-yard backstroke leg of the 400-yard medley relay team's fourth-place finish at NEISDA with a school-record time of 4:04.18 ... Also helped Simmons set new marks in the 800-yard freestyle relay with a first-place showing of 7:59.69 and the 200-yard freestyle following a second-place effort with a time of 1:38.97 ... Made her collegiate debut by helping the Sharks 200-yard medley relay squad set a school record with a time of 1:56.23 vs. Westfield State University on October 26 and was a part of the 400-yard freestyle relay team's record-setting showing of 3:44.26 vs. Wellesley College on November 16 ... Began her career by winning the first seven races she entered over three meets ... Scored a trio of first place finishes in the 50-yard freestyle, 50-yard backstroke and 100-yard backstroke vs. Mount Holyoke College on January 11 as part of a stretch that saw her win 15 consecutive events from December 7 to February 1.

High School/Personal: Four-year letterwinner in swimming and also earned a letter in track for La Cueva High School ... Won the Metro Champion in both the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle events for the Bears swimming team ... Set the school record in the 50-free at LCHS ... Four-year State Qualifier and top three finisher for La Cueva High swimming ... Won the 50 and 100-free District crown for the Bears swimming squad ... Named a Captain for the LCHS swim team as a senior ... Member of Student Senate and served as Senior Class President for La Cueva High School ... Member of National English Honors Society for La Cueva High ... Volunteered with Special Olympics and was a Therapeutic Riding Program volunteer ... Born September 4, 1994 ... Majoring in Exercise Science at Simmons and would like to pursue a career in Physical Therapy ... Daughter of Lisa Verploegh and Ted Swisher.