April 3, 2014
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The cap to a spectacular 2013-14 season came for junior Emma Reaney Thursday in the form of another conference honor as the University of Notre Dame swimming standout was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Swimmer of the Year in a vote of the league coaches.
Reaney, who earned ACC Women’s Swimmer of the Week accolades five times this year, had a remarkable ACC Championships as she won three titles in the 200 IM and the 100 and 200 breaststroke on her way to receiving ACC Women’s Most Valuable Swimmer honors. Her winning time in the 200 breast (2:04.34) was an American record and positioned her as the favorite in the event at the NCAA Championships.
At the NCAA Championships, Reaney improved as the meet went on by finishing seventh in the 200 IM (1:56.15), third in the 100 breast (57.79) and first in the 200 breast (2:04.06). Her time in the latter broke her own NCAA, U.S. Open and American record in the event as she bested 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist Breeja Larson (2:05.88) and Stanford standout Katie Olsen (2:05.88) by 1.82 seconds.
Her individual championship was the first in program history on either the women’s or men’s side. A more in-depth look at Reaney’s season will come out in the coming weeks.
The Lawrence, Kan., native will enter her senior year as the school record holder in eight events (four individual and four relay) and after spending a summer training at the elite SwimMAC Carolina facility in Charlotte, N.C.
For more information on Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving, check out the Irish on Facebook (/NDwSwimmingDiving) and Twitter (@NDwSwimming).
–Russell Dorn, Assistant Media Relations Director
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