THE WILDCAT WATCH THE VILLANOVA SWIMMING AND DIVING NEWSLETTER

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1 THE WILDCAT WATCH THE VILLANOVA SWIMMING AND DIVING NEWSLETTER May 2012 Big East Championships Women Wildcats take 5 th ; School Records Fall PITTSBURGH, Pa.--For the third consecutive year at the BIG EAST Championships the women's swimming team broke a school record in the 800 freestyle relay and Villanova got off to a fast start in this year's conference meet at Trees Pool on Wednesday, February 15 th. The new school record in the 800 free relay was made even better by a runner-up finish for the Wildcats, who came in under the NCAA "B" cut by more than nine seconds. Villanova beat its seed in the 800 free relay by five spots and finished with a time of 7:14.11, trailing only conference champion West Virginia in the event. The quartet of juniors Hayley Edwards (Pilesgrove, N.J.), Natalie Elphick (Durban, South Africa), Roxy Tammadge (Durban, South Africa) and freshman Katrin Heider (Bergisch Gladbach, Germany) each earned All-BIG EAST honors for their performances on the relay. Edwards, Elphick and Tammadge have each been a Part of all three record-setting relays in the Past three years. This year they broke their own record in the 800 free relay by nearly two seconds after swimming a time of 7:15.97 at last year's BIG EAST Championships in Louisville. Villanova came in third in the relay last year, making this the second straight meet where the Wildcats have garnered all-conference honors in the meet's opening relay. Edwards established a personal best time and also swam an NCAA "B" cut qualifying time in the finals of the 500 free, when she touched the wall in 4:43.52, nearly five full seconds faster than her swim in the preliminaries on Thursday morning. Edwards was in fourth place with 50 yards left in the finals and made a surge to move up to third place and garner All-BIG EAST honors. The next night she was Part of an allconference performance on the 800 yard freestyle relay squad. For the second time in as many nights Edwards turned in an All-BIG EAST performance as she finished third in the finals of the 500 yard freestlye. As a team, Villanova was in eighth place after two days of competition in the conference meet. Senior Yolana Du Plessis (Boksburg, South Africa) broke a school record in the 100 yard backstroke. In the preliminary races for the individual events on February, 17 th Du Plessis broke a school record which had stood for 19 years with a time of in the 100 back. That time also placed her seventh out of 42 swimmers in the event and qualified her for the finals during the evening session. Du Plessis eclipsed the previous mark of set by Tammy Kouser in "We are thrilled with Yolana's swim," Wildcats head coach Rick Simpson said. "The previous record had been on the books for quite some time. Yolana had a terrific start and put together a great race. She swam well again in the finals and we are excited for her." In the span of a few hours on Saturday night Edwards turned in All-BIG EAST performances in the 1650 yard freestyle and the 200 butterfly and also anchored the 400 yard freestyle relay. Her efforts helped Villanova continue its ascent in the team standings at the BIG EAST Championships, where the Wildcats finished in fifth place at the close of competition. The championship meet put the stamp on a terrific season for Edwards, who was selected for the NCAA meet after winning ECAC titles in both the 200 fly and the 1650 free. Her time of 1:59.28 in the 200 fly at the NCAA Championships was slightly faster than her time in the finals of the ECAC meet (1:59.55). In the 1650 free at the ECAC Championships, Edwards broke her own meet record in the 1650 free when she touched the wall in 16:17.93, eclipsing the previous mark that she set as a freshman two years ago.

2 Big East Championships Wildcat men close their season PITTSBURGH, Pa.--On the first evening of competition at the BIG EAST Championships the men's swimming team opened the conference meet by competing in the 800 yard freestyle relay and the 200 medley relay at Trees Pool on Wednesday evening. Villanova was in ninth place in the men's team rankings with 40 points heading into the first full day of individual and relay competition on Thursday morning. In the 800 free relay Villanova placed eighth with a time of 6:45.07 and in the 200 medley relay the Wildcats finished ninth with a season-best time of 1: On the second night of competition in the BIG EAST Championships the top performance for Villanova came from junior Scott Thiede (Bethesda, Md.). Thiede swam individually in the 50 yard freestyle on Thursday morning and also led off his team's 200 yard freestyle relay during the evening session. In the preliminaries of the 50 free Thiede swam a personal best time of and came in 21st out of 46 competitors. He also led off the 200 free relay with a split of and Villanova went on to finish in eighth place in the relay to earn 22 points towards the team score. Thiede was followed in the lineup by sophomore Kyle Grant (Winnetka, Ill.), senior Ted Sukramani (Williamsburg, Va.) and freshman Jason Moyer (Center Valley, Pa.). The field of swimmers for the preliminaries of the 100 back on Friday morning included 35 competitors and from that group Avendano came in seventh with a time of 49.92, good enough to qualify for the championship final later in the evening. Clarke, meanwhile, was a qualifier for the consolation final after an 11th place showing (50.48) in the preliminary swim. Freshman Jovany Avendano (Paterson, N.J.) and junior Braden Clarke (Chappaqua, N.Y.) each scored team points in the finals of the 100 yard backstroke. Avendano wound up with an eight place finish in the finals after producing a time of in his second swim of the day. Clarke held his position and placed 11th overall after slightly lowering his time to in the finals. Three different athletes scored team points for Villanova and the team finished in ninth place overall as the BIG EAST Championships concluded. In addition to the individual results the Wildcats also posted their best relay finish of the week with a seventh place showing in the 400 yard freestyle relay. Villanova scored 129 points in the four-day meet, which was won by Notre Dame on the men's side. Academic Excellence Villanova Women lead the way academically The Wildcat Women s Swimming and Diving team achieved an impressive accomplishment this past fall semester. In addition to holding the highest academic grade point average of all athletic teams in the Villanova Athletics family, the Wildcats held the second highest average for Division I schools in the CSCAA Academic All American list. This impressive achievement is even more remarkable considering the full schedule the swimming and diving program offers athletes. Alumni Reunion Weekend Coach Simpson is proud to announce this upcoming event VILLANOVA, Pa. Coach Rick Simpson is happy to announce that next winter, Villanova Swimming and Diving will be holding the bi-annual Alumni Reunion Weekend. The exact dates of the event will be released this coming September.

3 The Global Stage Villanova swimmers make an impact in South Africa PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa--In April of 2011, junior swimmers Natalie Elphick and Roxy Tammadge, both natives of Durban, South Africa, wrapped up a fantastic week of racing at the Telkom SA National Aquatic Championships. During the week Tammadge posted times in the 800 meter freestyle and the 1500 meter free that met the qualifying standard for the World University Games team. Below are highlights of the results for Elphick and Tammadge the meet, including their results from swims on Friday as well as the events that were reported on earlier this year. Making a Visible Difference Walter and Elaine Ulrich donate scoreboard system VILLANOVA, Pa. Walter and Elaine Ulrich made a generous contribution to Villanova Swimming and Diving that has allowed the program to install a new Colorado Timing System full video display board. The board was installed on the western wall of the Pavilion swimming facility, just above the 3-meter diving boards. It will afford the program the ability to display high definition imagery ranging from swim meet stats and times to full movies and presentations. The generous consideration of the Ulrich s has provided an incredible functional and aesthetic upgrade to facility that will benefit athletes for years to come. Natalie Elphick 200 Meter ** Placed sixth overall out of 67 swimmers in the preliminary heats with a time of 2:04.91 ** Came in third in the finals with a time of 2: Meter ** Second out of 106 competitors in the preliminaries with a time of ** Lowered her team in both the semifinals and finals of the event ** Finished third in the semifinals (57.28) and third in the finals (57.03) 50 Meter ** Came in third out of 88 entries in the preliminaries with a time of ** Placed second in the semifinals with an even lower time of ** Saved her best time for the finals, where she came in second with a mark of Roxy Tammadge 200 Meter ** Eighth in the preliminaries out of 67 swimmers with a time of 2:05.89 ** Moved up to fourth place with a mark of 2:03.69 in the finals ** Elphick and Tammadge were third and fourth, respectively, in the finals of the 200 meter free 100 Meter ** Placed 26th in a field of 106 competitors in the preliminaries with a time of 1: Meter ** Finished third out of 11 competitors in the 1500 free with a time of 16:51.32 ** Recorded a time that met the qualifying standard for the World University Games 800 Meter ** Came in sixth out of 28 entries in the preliminaries on Wednesday with a time of 9:04.59 ** Lowered her time by nearly 20 seconds in the finals, touching in 8:44.89 to come in second overall ** Recorded a time that met the qualifying standard for the World University Games 400 Meter ** Finished seventh out of 54 swimmers with a time of 4:26.59 in the preliminary heats ** Moved up to third place in the finals and touched the wall in 4:18.87.

4 The Wildcat Pride Challenge Villanova Athletic Fund promotes alumni giving VILLANOVA, Pa. --The Villanova Athletic Fund is in its second year of a challenge giving program for former Villanova student-athletes. In the Wildcat Pride Challenge, all VU varsity programs will oppose each other in an annual giving competition, starting with gifts received on June 1, 2012 through May 31, The Wildcat Pride Challenge will produce two winners. They will be the programs with the highest alumni participation rate and the highest percentage increase in number of donors from year to year. The winners of each of these categories will each receive a $10,000 gift to their programs from anonymous donors to Villanova Athletics. The winners were Men s Soccer and Softball. With the Challenge coming to an end, Villanova Swimming and Diving is hoping to make a big push to compete for the top spot. If you are interested in participating the link is listed below: Villanova Wildcat Swimming and Diving Would Like to Thank the Following Individuals for Their Support: Maureen and Timothy Aksamit Maria and Scott Fraser Mathias Mone William Somerville Genevieve Allard Charles Friday David and Patty Morden Catherine Sosnowski Jovany and Sandra Avendano Edward Gallagher Beverly and Roland Moyer Anne and John Stephens Kathleen and Terry Bickhart John Geoghegan Daniel Nies Justin Stephens Edward Brennan Russell Gianforcaro Mark Niziol Elizabeth Stetson Christy Bridgewater-Feehery Donna and Matthew Hagens Matthew Noble Charles Stone Eileen Buck Dawn and Preston Hall Russell Paulson Sandra and Timothy Tamanini Harry Clarke Eric Haner M. K. and Robert Pinto Ann and George Thiede James Corey James Hazelwood Michael Rafferty Sean Whipkey Thomas Dion Ute Heider Joseph Rebak Elizabeth Williams James Donnelly Noreen Houck Philip and Rita Regan John Williams Robert Dow Kevin and Susan Jurek Jane and Kenneth Schappert Margaret Young Mary Dowling Sharon Kirkby Anne and Robert Schulman David Echeverria Douglas and Sandra Lennox Lauren Schulman Eileen and Mark Edwards Jacques Mauch Anthony Sipala Natalie Elphick Joseph Maurizi Cynthia Skinner Joan and William Fick Richard McDonough William Slamkowski Elizabeth Fogarty Cail David Mehok Jeanne Smith

5 Villanova Women s Swimming and Diving Top Times and Scores

6 Villanova Men s Swimming and Diving Top Times and Scores

7 Introducing Villanova s Freshman Class Sarah Aemessiger Claire Askamit Clary Bracy Oreland, Pa. Germantown Academy Rochester, Minn. Lourdes Bentonville, Ark. Bentonville /Butterfly Katrin Heider Sarah Jurek Katie Koch Kayra Zsyga Robert Patton Chris Tamanini Bergisch Gladbach, Germany Herkenrath Glendale, Ariz. Xavier College Preparatory Basking Ridge, N.J. Ridge Diving Jovany Avenado Tony Sipala Gilbert, Ariz. Chandler /IM Paterson, N.J. Clifton Backstroke South Glastonbury, Conn. Glastonbury Breaststroke Jason Moyer Roy Sung Towson, Md. Towson Butterfly/IM Center Valley, Pa. Southern Lehigh Wayland, R.I. Wayland Breaststroke Kingston Twp., Pa. Dallas