WINTHROP, Mass. – Simmons College's Miriam Swisher (Albuquerque, N.M) was named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Women's Swimming & Diving Athlete of the Week for the week of October 24-30, it was announced today by the league.
The honor marks the 17th time during her four-year career that Swisher has been named the GNAC's top weekly swimming & diving athlete.
The reporting period also includes the week prior to last. Swisher won all four individual events that she competed in and helped the Sharks finish first in three relays events over two meets.
A graduate of La Cueva High School, Swisher placed first in the 50-yard backstroke with a time of 28.58 and clocked in at 55.28 to win the 100-yard freestyle vs. host Westfield State University on October 22. Swisher led off the 200-yard freestyle relay, followed by sophomore Kara Smith (Eastham, Mass.), sophomore Laura Simpson (Perkiomenville, Pa.) and first year Frances Humphrey (McKinney, Texas) to combine to post a winning time of 1:49.85. Swisher returned to the pool on October 29 in a double-dual meet vs. Gordon College and Elms College and finished ahead of the field in the 200-yard freestyle with a mark of 1:59.03 and the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:01.99. The New Mexico native helped Simmons win both relay events as well, swimming the lead backstroke leg in the 200-yard medley relay followed by juniors Natalie Giraldi (Bedford, N.H.) and Michaela Morris (Duxbury, Mass.) and sophomore Kerry Fleming (Northampton, Mass.) for a time of 1:55.73. The Sharks' time in the 400-yard freestyle victory was 3:46.09 to win by more than 15 seconds, fueled by Fleming, Swisher, Simpson and first year Laura List (Bedford, Mass.).
An Exercise Science major, Swisher has made a place for herself in history as Simmons' greatest swimmer of all time being named the GNAC Swimming & Diving Athlete of the Year twice. She has racked up 92 top-three efforts, while placing first 84 times during her career. She currently holds six individual school records and has been a part of five school relay team standards. Swisher earned the Bruce Hutchinson Female Swimmer of the Meet award after winning a pair of events in school-record times at last season's New England Intercollegiate Swimming & Diving Association Championships from February 12-14, 2016 and earning All-NEISDA status in seven events, including four relay races. She 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. She has earned All-NEISDA status in 18 events during her career and has earned 10 GNAC Individual Championships during her tenure.
The Sharks are currently 3-0 on the season and return to the pool on Saturday, November 12 when they head to Wellesley, Mass. for a 1:00 p.m. meet with Wellesley College.