Pac-12 Conference Weekly Honors: Reece Whitley, Lindsay Looney Lead Awards

reece-whitley-pac-12-conference
Reece Whitley; Photo Courtesy: Connor Trimble

California sophomore Reece Whitley was named the Pac-12 Conference Swimmer of the Week for the second time in three weeks, the league office announced Wednesday afternoon.

Whitley, who was previously named Pac-12 Swimmer of the Week on Jan. 29, continued his award-winning efforts last weekend in a dual meet victory over USC on Feb. 7 and in the UC San Diego Invitational long-course competition at Southwestern College on Feb. 8. The sophomore was dominant, winning all four events he swam over the two-day period.

Whitley earned 18 points in Cal’s 161-130 dual meet victory over the Trojans by sweeping the breaststroke races (53.22 in the 100-yard breast and 1:54.64 in the 200-yard breast) and swimming the second leg of Cal’s 1:26.11 finish in the 200-yard medley relay.

In Saturday’s UC San Diego Invitational, Whitley then won the 200-meter breast event in 2:12.69, more than five seconds faster than the United States Olympic Trials qualifying time requirement (2:17.89).

Whitley and the Bears are off this upcoming weekend and will resume competition on Feb. 22 against rival Stanford in their final dual meet of the season. The Pac-12 dual meet will start at noon at the Cardinal’s Avery Aquatic Center.

More Pac-12 coverage

PAC-12 CONFERENCE MEN’S SWIMMER OF THE WEEK: Reece Whitley, So., California (Lafayette Hill, Pa.)
Whitley excelled in California’s two-day trip to USC last weekend, winning all four events he swam in. The sophomore swept the breaststroke events and swam the second leg of a 200-yard medley relay victory in the Bear’s 161-130 road win. His 200-yard breast finish (1:54.64) was nearly six seconds faster than the rest of the field. Whitley finished the weekend by winning the 200-meter (long course) breast event against UC San Diego with a time of 2:12.69, which cleared the U.S. Olympic Trials qualifying requirement of 2:17.89. He earns his second Pac-12 Swimmer of the Week honor this season.

ALSO NOMINATED: Liam Bresette, ASU.

PAC-12 CONFERENCE MEN’S DIVER OF THE WEEK: Henry Fusaro, Sr., USC (Scottsdale, Ariz.)
Fusaro recorded three wins last weekend, giving him seven this season in dual-meet action, including three Pac-12 sweeps (against ASU, Arizona and Stanford) on springboard. The senior posted top scores against California in the 1-meter (358.28) and 3 meter (380.85) and in the 1-meter (373.37) and 3-meter (419.55) while facing Stanford. Fusaro earns his first weekly award and has earned two-career Pac-12 Diver of the Month honors.

ALSO NOMINATED: Youssef Salim, ASU; Tony Chen, Utah.

PAC-12 CONFERENCE WOMEN’S SWIMMER OF THE WEEK: Lindsay Looney, Fr., Arizona State (Denison, Texas)
Looney (Denison, Texas) dominated in her events in Arizona State’s dual-meet victory over Arizona (181-103) last Saturday. The freshman swimmer set the ASU school record in the 200-yard butterfly (1:55.39) which was previously held by Ashton Aubry with a time of 1:56.14. Her time in the 200 fly is currently the 11th-fastest time in all of Division I swimming.

Looney also won the 100 fly with a time of 53.65, sweeping the fly events for the second time this season. This is the first time this season that Looney has been named the Pac-12 Women’s Swimmer of the Week.

PAC-12 CONFERENCE WOMEN’S DIVER OF THE WEEK: Lizzy DeCecco, Fr., Utah (Saskatoon, Canada)
DeCecco (Saskatoon, Canada) was one of several Utah women’s divers competing at the Air Force Diving Invitational last weekend. DeCecco competed over three days (Thursday, Friday and Saturday) in the 1-meter, 3-meter and platform events.

The freshman diver recorded her highest finish of the Invitational in the platform event, totaling 230.15 points and placing third. In the 1-meter the freshman totaled 229.65 points, placing sixth and in the 3-meter she totaled 254.20, placing fifth. This is the first time this season that DeCecco has been named the Pac-12 Women’s Diver of the Week.

— The above press release was posted by Swimming World in conjunction with Cal swimming and the Pac-12 Conference. For press releases and advertising inquiries please contact Advertising@SwimmingWorld.com.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x