Happy Holidays!

GO BLUE!

Wellesley was led by first-year Keelin Nave who posted wins in two individual events, and also swam on a winning relay team. She won the 200-freestyle in a time of 2:01.34, out-touching classmate Annie Hamilton, who took second in 2:01.65. Nave also posted a win in the 100-fly in 1:02.48, and took second in the 200-fly in 2:22.19.

The Blue won both of the relay events in this afternoon’s meet, touching first in the 200-medley relay and the 400-free relay. In the medley, Wellesley’s Ika Kovacikova, Carolyn Jackson, Virgina Hung, and Maria Amirkhanashvili posted a winning time of 1:58.20 to open the meet with a victory. In the last women’s event of the meet, Amirkhanashvili, Nave, Dana Dutton, and Hamilton teamed for a winning time of 3:47.72 in the 400-free relay.

Individually, Dutton took second in both the 50-free (25.44) and the 500-free (5:30.98), while Hayley Goydan took second in both diving events. She recorded 192.75 points on the 1-meter board, while tallying 175.50 on the 3-meter.

Other second place finishes for Wellesley included Melanie Kaplan’s 11:31.10 in the 1,000-free, Carolyn Jackson’s 1:12.02 in the 100-breast, and Amirkhanashvili’s 56.71 in the 100-free.

AARON PARADIS
Assistant Diving Coach

Aaron is a graduate of Babson College earning his B.S. in business management with a concentration in Entrepreneurship and I.T. Management.

While at Babson, Aaron earned Dean’s List honors four times and was very active on campus, serving on the executive board for a variety of clubs and organizations.

Aaron was the NEWMAC Diver of the year in 2007, finishing the season undefeated and winning the conference on both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving boards. Aaron was a six time All Conference selection. Making the trip to the NCAA National Championships twice, Aaron finished his senior year placing 11th on the 1-meter and 17th on the 3-meter earning him Honorable Mention All-American.

Aaron comes from a 12 year gymnastics background, with multiple State and Regional Championships under his belt. Transitioning to diving in high school, he placed first at his high school conference meet and holds numerous pool records. He taught and coached gymnastics and tumbling for 6 years before college.

Aaron also works part time for The PostureWorks, a social enterprise company which manufactures medical devices to assist patients in nursing homes.

CARLOS VEGA
Assistant Swimming Coach
Head Masters Coach
Recruiting Coordinator

Carlos swam for Kenyon College and earned his B.A. with a major in economics and a minor in religious studies. He earned his M.S. from UMass-Amherst in Sport Management.

Carlos was born in Puerto Rico, and was a member of the Puerto Rico National Team in 1999. Carlos is bilingual (Spanish and English).

While at Kenyon, Carlos was on the Dean’s List twice, and earned an NCAA post graduate scholarship, while earning All American honors 11 times. Carlos was the National Champion in the 200 fly in 2002 and was a National Champion on four NCAA relays. His 400 Medley Relay Tem set an NCAA record.

Carlos has served as an assistant coach at Amherst College, Kalamazoo College and Case Western. He has also worked at IMG in the golf division as a client service associate, consulting executive and LPGA international travel coordinator. Carlos spent the first part of the summer working the Auburn Swim Camps.

Their addition to the Wellesley Swimming and Diving coaching staff demonstrates the level of excellence in both academics and athletics Wellesley College offers its student-athletes.

This January, I had the amazing opportunity to participate in the inaugural year of this Institute, along with 40 other Wellesley students. We spent two weeks attending lectures by, and interacting with professors who study global issues, as well as alumnae who are working in the field. With students of all different majors, I learned about everything from the policy dilemmas of tackling world hunger, to religion and violence, or community-based approaches to global public health. On one of my favorite days, we heard about the chemistry of climate change in the morning from a prominent Wellesley professor, and in the afternoon we heard about the work of a Wellesley alum who works on various environmental issues at the World Bank.

The third week was both the most intense and rewarding part of the Institute for me. Students gave group presentations in front of Secretary Albright on the 8 UN Millennium Development Goals and presented to her our ideas about creative solutions for the various problems facing global development. After each presentation, we heard Secretary Albright’s feedback about our ideas, and stories about how she had confronted these issues while she was in office. Along with the three weeks of courses this January, Wellesley is providing all of the Albright fellows with a generous stipend to pursue an internationally focused internship this summer.

Looking back over the past three weeks, I realize that in many ways the Albright Institute has been representative of my entire Wellesley experience. Just like the Institute, Wellesley College itself has provided me with an exceptional and innovative learning experience, allowed me to interact one-on-one with incredibly smart and interesting professors in smaller class sizes, helped me to pursue my academic passions outside of the classroom and given me access to a huge alumnae network of women who are accomplishing truly amazing things all over the world. I truly believe that there is no other undergraduate institution that focuses so much on individual student learning, or that provides its students with the opportunity to work one-on-one with such a prominent professor or alum. Other universities and colleges might have famous professors, but with large class sizes and few office hours, what are the chances that you will get to actually talk to them in person?

I was recently discussing the Institute with my mom, and she said to me “you are so lucky that you chose Wellesley!” and I think she’s absolutely right. Where else would I find a coach who cares so much about me as an individual and a student that she is willing to come to the pool early in the morning to help me get in my practices before class? Or professors who make sure that class ends on time so that I can make it to a meet? The point is, I don’t think I could find a more perfect place to be a student and an athlete.

Wellesley College Honorees include seniors Emilie Mitten (Norfolk, CT), Alex Stark (Moorestown, NJ) Abigail Friedman (Bristow, VA) and Laurie Adamson (Silver Spring, MD), fifth year Savanna Johnson (Bloomington, IN), and sophomores Olivia Hulme (Alma, MI), Melanie Kaplan (La Jolla, CA) and Allison Yee (Cupertino, CA).  Mitten, Stark, and Jonson are three time All-Conference team members, while Friedman makes her second appearance, and Adamson, Hulme, Kaplan, and Yee make their first appearances.

To earn NEWMAC Academic All-Conference Honors student-athletes must have met the following criteria:

• Earned a cumulative GPA of 3.5/4.0 (4.35/5.0) after the 2009 Fall semester.
• Achieved second year academic status at her institution.
• Been a member of the varsity team for the entire season.

Congratulations to Mitten, Stark, Johnson, Friedman, Adamson, Hulme, Kaplan, and Yee for their fantastic representation of Wellesley College student-athletes!

For the full press release please click [here].

To register for any of the following American Red Cross certification courses offered at Wellesley College, simply print, complete and return the form below, with payment.

For more information, contact Bonnie Dix at bdix@wellesley.edu     To contact the instructor or to order a book or a pocket mask, contact Tom at RoudabushT@usa.redcross.org

LIFEGUARD CERTIFICATION

Prerequisite Swim: Friday, April 2nd, 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Participants must be at least 15 years of age, pass a prerequisite swim test and attend all sessions.

Fee: College Student $150   Community $300

Saturday, April 3rd, 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Friday April 9^th 5:30 PM- 9:30 PM

Sunday April 11^th 9 AM -4PM

Friday April 16^th 5:30 PM- 9:30 PM

Sunday April 18^th 9 AM -4PM

Friday April 23^rd 5:30PM- 9:30PM

CPR FOR THE PROFESSIONAL RESCUER RECERTIFICATION

March 31st   5:00 PM – 9:30 PM Fee: College students $50 Community $90

The purpose of this course is to recertify individuals that have a current or recently expired American Red Cross CPR Pro Rescuer Certification, must show proof of certification.  Must have own Book and Pocket Mask

LIFEGUARD RECERTIFICATION – CHALLENGE FORMAT

April 25^th and 26^th , 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Fee: College Students $85 Community $125

Must show a current CPR-Professional Rescuer Certification and have a current or recently expired A.R.C Lifeguard certification. Must show proof of certifications. Must have own book and pocket mask or purchase them from the instructor prior to class.

_____________________________________________________________________

Registration Form:    Must include a deposit check made out to Wellesley College.

Name________________________  Age_________  Phone______________

Address________________________City___________________ST______Zip_______

Check the class you are enrolling in:

__ Full Lifeguard class   ($75 deposit)

__CPR FOR THE PROFESSIONAL RESCUER RECERTIFICATION ($25)

__LIFEGUARD RECERTIFICATION – CHALLENGE FORMAT ($40)

Complete Results

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – Wellesley College earned its 13th consecutive Seven Sisters Swimming and Diving Championship this weekend at Mount Holyoke College. The Blue won three of the 20 events en route to a total of 1,090 points. They were followed by Smith College (740), Mount Holyoke (667), Vassar College (645) and Bryn Mawr College (472).

The competition began with 13 events yesterday and concluded with seven more today. Vassar claimed top honors in eight of the 20 events, but Wellesley’s depth proved to be the difference. The Blue were paced by Savanna Johnson (Bloomington, IN), Carolyn Jackson (Leesburg, VA) and Dana Dutton (Anacortes, WA), who figured in one two victories apiece over the course of the weekend. Caroline Shannon of Vassar led all swimmers with four wins.

Christie Musket of Vassar completed the sweep of the diving events with her win off the three meter board (314.75). Once again, she was followed by Smith’s Isabelle Harper (311.55) and teammate Carolyn McLean (299.80).

Bryn Mawr’s Cea Weaver (Rochester, NY) kicked off the third and final swimming session with a decisive victory in the 1,650-yard freestyle (18:34.04). She touched the wall nearly 30 seconds in front of Smith’s Mackenzie Bradley (19:01.95). Emilie Mitten (Norwalk, CT) of Wellesley secured third place (19:10.72).

Smith’s Lily Seidman picked up her third triumph of the weekend in the 200-yard backstroke (2:14.99). She was joined in the top three by Shannon Sara (2:16.39) of Vassar and Katherine Foley (Orono, Maine) (2:19.88) of Wellesley.

Not to be outdone, Bryn Mawr’s Meredith Davis claimed her third win in the 100-yard freestyle (56.30), where she narrowly edged out  Wellesley’s Dutton (56.41) and Lydia Bowers (56.64) of Mount Holyoke.

Vassar’s Shannon grabbed her fourth and final victory of the weekend in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:32.41), as she tapped in nearly five seconds ahead of Wellesley’s Jackson (2:37.01). Lindsay Schonborn (2:38.63) of Mount Holyoke rounded out the top three.

Mount Holyoke closed out the championship with triumphs in each of the final two events.

Joan Burton recorded the top time in the 200-yard butterfly (2:18.76), finishing in front of Wellesley’s Virginia Hung (Plainsboro, NJ) (2:20.88) and Hilary Gram (Hopkinton, MA) (2:22.77).

She then teamed with Schonborn, Bowers and Nora Cunningham to win the 400-yard freestyle relay with a program record time of 3:45.75. Sara, Megan McCarthy, Sydnie Alquist and Jordana Jantze turned in a second place finish for Vassar (3:48.57).

2010 Seven Sisters Swimming and Diving Final Standings

1. Wellesley College – 1090 points (Champions)
2. Smith College – 740 points
3. Mount Holyoke College – 667 points
4. Vassar College – 645 points
5. Bryn Mawr College – 472 points

2010 Seven Sisters Swimming and Diving All-Championship Team

200-yard Freestyle Relay – Savanna Johnson, Whitney Smith, Carolyn Jackson, Dana Dutton (Wellesley) 1:43:74
500-yard Freestyle – Shannon Sara (Vassar) 5:19:93
200-yard Individual Medley – Caroline Shannon (Vassar) 2:16:42
50-yard Freestyle – Meredith Davis (Bryn Mawr) 25:64
400-yard Medley Relay – Katie Foley, Carolyn Jackson, Virginia Hung, Savanna Johnson (Wellesley) 4:18:80
1 meter diving – Christie Musket (Vassar) 340.95
200-yard Medley Relay – Shannon Sara, Caroline Shannon, Meg McCarthy, Jordana Jantze (Vassar) 1:57.06
400-yard Individual Medley – Shannon Sara (Vassar) 4:45.28
100-yard Butterfly – Meredith Davis (Bryn Mawr) 1:00:10
200-yard Freestyle – Dana Dutton (Wellesley) 2:02:00
100-yard Breaststroke – Caroline Shannon (Vassar) 1:10:70
100-yard Backstroke – Lily Seidman (Smith) 1:03:79
800-yard Freestyle Relay – Emma Reim, Mackenzie Bradley, Christine Dzialo, Lily Seidman (Smith) 8:20.45
3 meter diving – Christie Musket (Vassar) 314.75
1,650-yard Freestyle – Cea Weaver (Bryn Mawr) 18:34:04
200-yard Backstroke – Lily Seidman (Smith) 2:14:99
100-yard Freestyle – Meredith Davis (Bryn Mawr) 56:30
200-yard Breaststroke – Caroline Shannon (Vassar) 2:32:41
200-yard Butterfly – Joan Burton (Mount Holyoke) 2:18:76
400-yard Freestyle Relay – Lindsay Schonborn, Lydia Bowers, Nora Cunningham, Joan Burton (Mount Holyoke) 3:45.75

Complete List

WELLESLEY, Mass. – The Wellesley Swimming and Diving team has been named a recipient of the Division III Team Scholar All-America Award, the College Swimming Coaches Association of America announced earlier this month.

The Blue landed 19th in the ranking, recording an overall 3.41 GPA and finishing second among NEWMAC teams behind only MIT (3.44).

Wellesley is back in action on February 19th as they host the 2010 NEWMAC Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship at Chandler Pool.

Swimming lessons through Wellesley College Swimming and Diving will resume in September of 2010. We will not be taking pre-registrations until then.

Best Regards,

Wellesley Swimming and Diving