Jan. 9, 2007
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Freshman Kassia Shishkoff (Raleigh, N.C./St. David's School) has been named Big Ten Swimmer, Collegeswimming.com National Swimmer and SwimmingWorldMagazine National Collegiate Swimmer of the Week after her record-setting performance Saturday against No. 16 Tennessee. The honors are the first of Shishkoff's career and the first for NU this season.
Shishkoff took first in each of her four events, all in NCAA 'B' cuts. The freshman's best performance came when she broke the 10-year-old Norris Aquatics Center pool record by more than five seconds in the 1,650 free with a time of 16:28.01. Stanford's Amy Olberhelman had the previous record of 16:33.80.
Shishkoff also finished first in the 500 free (4:48.78), 400 IM (4:22.95) and 200 free (1:49.43) before helping the Wildcats earn their first relay 'B' cut of the year with a time of 1:33.34 in the 200 free.
The honors are the first of Shishkoff's career, and the first for the Wildcats this season. The last Northwestern women's swimmer to earn the Collegeswimming.com National Swimmer of the Week award was Erica Rose on Jan. 23, 2003.
The award from SwimmingWorldMagazine is the inaugural Collegiate Swimmer of the Week honor given out by the publication.
Northwestern returns to action at 5 p.m. Friday in Columbus, Ohio, with a dual meet against Marshall.