Fran Crippen Wins Second Consecutive ACC Swimmer Of the Week Award: Rachael Burke Takes Women’s Honors

GREENSBORO, N.C., November 11. UNIVERSITY of Virginia second-year swimmers Fran Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa./Germantown Academy) and Rachael Burke (Bethesda, Md./Good Counsel) have been selected as the Atlantic Coast Conference Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Performer of the Week, respectively. Crippen and Burke both automatically qualified for the 2004 NCAA Championships in the 1650 freestyle in the Cavaliers' dual meet wins over Georgia Tech on Friday.

Crippen, a 2003 first-team All-American, wins the ACC's weekly award for the second consecutive week and for the fifth time in two seasons. Crippen qualified for the 2004 NCAA Championships by bettering the automatic standard in the 1650 free in ninth-ranked Virginia's 133-95 win over Georgia Tech. His time of 15:05.15 was 28 seconds faster than the runner-up and 41 seconds better than the previous top ACC time in the mile this season. Crippen also recorded an exhibition win in the 500 free (4:28.52) and helped the Cavaliers post another exhibition win in the 800 freestyle relay (6:49.96).

Burke clocked a winning time of 16:23.53 in the 1650 freestyle, automatically qualifying for the 2004 NCAA Championships. Burke, a 2003 first-team All-American, won the mile by 24 seconds and bettered the previous ACC top time by 35 seconds. Burke was also third in the 500 freestyle (4:58.32) to complete a top-three UVa sweep in the event. The 17th-ranked Cavaliers posted a 139-98 victory over Georgia Tech.

The Virginia men are now 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the ACC, while the Cavalier women improve to 3-2 overall and 2-0 in the conference.

The Cavaliers return to action November 21-23 when they travel to College Station, Texas, to compete in the Texas A&M Fall Invitational.

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