Zaleski and Geissinger named National Swimmers of the Week

DateFebruary 17, 2009
LocationSOMERS, Wis.

After leading their respective teams to the North Coast Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Championships over the weekend, Denison's Olivia Zaleski (Corry, Pa./Corry Area) and John Geissinger (Darien, Conn./Lawrenceville School) were named the CollegeSwimming.com National Collegiate Swimmer of the Week for Division III.

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Olivia Zaleski

For Zaleski this marks her second National Swimmer of the Week honor of this season.  She won the award on Dec. 10, 2008 after her performance at the three-day Miami Invitational.  The most recent award comes after her stellar seven victory performance in Canton.  Zaleski took first in the 50 freestyle (21.19), the 100 butterfly (54.84), the 100 backstroke (55.78) and swam on the winning 400 medley relay, 200 medley relay, 200 free relay and 400 free relay.

All seven of her wins were NCAA automatic qualifying times and all seven swims were new NCAC championship records.  Zaleski and the Big Red defeated rival Kenyon College by 131 points to collect their second conference title in school history, and their first since the 2004 season.  Zaleski was named the NCAC Swimmer of the Year for the second straight year.


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John Geissinger

Geissinger picked up NCAC Male Swimmer of the Year honors after his seven win, seven meet record performance.  He broke Denison graduate Aaron Cole's 9-year-old conference record with his 19.98 time in the 50 freestyle.  He also took first in the 100 free (43.96) the 200 free (1:37.33) and was a part of all four of Denison's winning relay teams.

All seven wins were NCAA automatic qualifying times.  The 15-time All-American and three-time national champion will return to the NCAA Division III Championship in March at the University of Minnesota. Denison's 375.5 point victory over Kenyon marked Denison's second conference championship and their first since 1997.