Kelly Named Big Ten Co-Swimmer of the Week
11/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Nov. 24, 2009
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan women's swimming senior Margaret Kelly (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) was named Big Ten Co-Swimmer of the Week on Tuesday (Nov. 24). Her eight wins (three individual, five relays) helped the Wolverines take first place at the Purdue Invitational last weekend (Fri-Sun., Nov. 20-22).
For the weekend, Kelly won the 200-yard individual medley, the 100-yard butterfly and the 100-yard freestyle and swam on all five of Michigan's first-place relay teams. Her time of 49.34 in the 100 free was just one-hundredth of a second off her career best, set nearly one year ago to the date (Nov. 23, 2008, at the Texas A&M Invitational). She earned eight NCAA 'B' cuts on the weekend, giving her nine total on the season, tops on the team.
"Margaret didn't have a lot of easy speed, but she's gotten stronger," head coach Jim Richardson said Sunday. "She was able to muscle her way through a number of events today after making a lot of really good adjustments. She's that kind of a swimmer. She has the ability to analyze what she's doing and offer suggestions, always asking what she can do better. That makes her a joy to work with. She had a great three days of swimming."
It is the second career honor for Kelly, a five-time NCAA All-American and 11-time NCAA All-America honorable mention. She last received the Big Ten weekly honor on Jan 22, 2008, after winning four events against Michigan State and Northwestern, both U-M wins.
She shares this week's conference laurel with Northwestern's Emily Wong and is the first U-M swimmer since Hannah Smith (Feb. 10, 2009) to receive the award. Sophomore diver Amanda Lohman (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Claire) was honored as the Big Ten's Diver of the Week earlier this season on Oct. 27.
Contact: Brad Rudner (734) 647-4237
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