Rider Swimmers Honored by MAAC
Urbanski, French Swimmers of Week
Korn Diver of the Week

LAWRENCEVILLE?Seniors Lauren Urbanski of the women's team, and Andy French of the men's team, were named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Swimmers of the Week for all competition November 14-20.  Junior diver Dylan Korn was named the MAAC Male Diver of the Week.

Urbanski (Lansdowne, Pa./Upper Darby) set both a Bucknell pool record and a Rider team record when she won the 200 butterfly (2:04.31) at the Bucknell Invitational over the weekend. Urbanski also won the 100 butterfly (57.42) and swam on both the winning 200 and 400 medley relays.

“I had no idea that I was going to swim that fast,” said Urbanski.  “I wasn't relaxing earlier in the year and this weekend, I just went out and swam and dropped my times.  I had the mentality to not worry about anything and it worked out for me.”

“Lauren setting a Rider record and Bucknell pool record on Saturday was impressive, considering all of the events that are contested at the Kinney Natatorium,” said head coach Steve Fletcher.  “She qualified for the U.S. Open Championships at Purdue at the end of the month and for Lauren to be able to compete on the National level is very impressive and a well deserved honor.”

French (Richfield, Minn./Richfield Senior) won the 500 (4:43.45) and the 1650 (16:20.60) freestyle events at the Bucknell Invitational, and currently possesses the fastest 500 freestyle in the MAAC this season.

“We all stepped up this past weekend after battling through a tough first semester,” said French.  “The competition was very good and we all saw some serious time drops.”

Korn (Hawthorne, N.Y./Westlake), who won conference honors for the third time this season won the 1-meter dive (272.85) and 3-meter (314.50) dives at the Bucknell Invitational.

“The competition that Dylan has faced has really pushed him hard this season,” said diving coach Dennis Ceppa who was the 2006 MAAC Diving Coach of the Year.  “Dylan was the conference Diver of the Year in 2006 and has been extremely focused.  He is coming in and working out hard and is focused on diving up to his potential.   The schedule and our competitors are making a huge difference in all our divers this year.  If Dylan wasn't being pushed every time out, it would be hard for him to stay focused and improve his scores so the level of competition that we have faced has really helped overall.”

Overall, Rider won 12 individual events and two relay championships at the Bucknell Invitational.

-RU-