WINTHROP, Mass. – Simmons University's Kerry Fleming (Northampton, Mass.) was named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Women's Swimming & Diving Athlete of the Week for the week of January 7-13, it was announced today by the league.
The honor marks the third time that Fleming has earned the award, having been named the weekly top athlete twice during the 2016-17 campaign. The accolade has been handed out to the Sharks five times this season with five different student-athletes being named, including sophomore Sara Manjikian (Belmont, Mass.), who was chosen for the week of November 5-11, junior Aine Scholand (Albuquerque, N.M.) for the week of October 29-November 4, senior Jason Erichsen (Banks, Ore.) was tabbed for the week of October 22-28 and senior Laura Simpson (Perkiomenville, Pa.) earned the accolade for the week of October 15-21.
Fleming won both individual events that she entered and helped Simmons win both relay events at Regis (Mass.) and vs. Colby-Sawyer College in a double-dual meet on January 12. The senior showed her versatility by winning the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.97 and later touched the wall first in the 100-yard backstroke with a mark of 1:02.40. The Northampton High School product opened the meet by swimming the lead backstroke in the squad's winning 200-yard medley relay, helping the Sharks post a time of 1:57.83. Fleming swam the second leg of the team's triumph in the 200-yard freestyle relay to combine on a time of 1:45.21 to win by more than three seconds.
For the season, the Public Relations/Marketing Communications major has been one of the most dynamic competitors on the team as well as the conference, winning seven different events and eight overall, including the 50, 100 and 500-yard freestyle, the 100 and 200-yard backstroke, the 50-yard butterfly and the 100-yard individual medley. Fleming has turned in 11 top-three finishes for the year and posted five personal-record times, including a mark of 2:10.17 in the 200-yard backstroke to place ninth overall at the prestigious MIT Winter Invitational in late November. The four-year standout has also been a key contributor in relay events for Simmons, helping it to four victories in 2018-19.
Fleming has enjoyed tremendous success during her tenure on the Fenway campus, winning 44 events, while finishing among the top three 76 times. She has been named All-Conference twice and All-New England Intercollegiate Swimming & Diving Association in 10 individual events during her career.
The Sharks are currently 9-2 on the season and return to the pool on Saturday, January 19 when they host Merrimack College at 11:00 a.m. at the Holmes Sports Center Aquatics Center.