Badgers' Meyer picks up fourth Big Ten weekly honor
November 17, 2009 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Nov. 17, 2009
MADISON, Wis. - Maggie Meyer has been named the Big Ten Conference's top women's swimmer for the second-consecutive week, and the fourth time in six weeks this season, the league announced Tuesday.
Meyer improved her unbeaten streak in individual events last Friday against Northwestern, winning her 11th and 12th races of the season in dominant fashion.
She clocked the nation's fastest time and became the NCAA's first automatic qualifier this season in the 100 backstroke with a pool-record mark of 53.01 to win that event by over three seconds.
Meyer followed that by winning the 200 back by a four-second margin in an NCAA consideration time of 1:57.20. Meyer has now won all 12 individual events she has competed in this year, while posting NCAA marks in 10 of those swims.
She finished the night against Northwestern as part of four wins - and four NCAA times - in all by contributing to UW victories in the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays.
The junior led off the Badgers' winning effort in the 200 medley relay, which finished in a pool-record and NCAA consideration time of 1:41.88, and then anchored UW's winning quartet in the 400 free relay, which came home first in an NCAA time of 3:22.51.
Meyer has claimed the Big Ten's weekly swimming honor in back-to-back weeks for the second time this season. She also earned consecutive swimmer of the week nods for the weeks of Oct. 13 and Oct. 20.
Combined with her weekly honor from Feb. 5, 2008, Meyer has now earned Big Ten Swimmer of the Week honors five times in her career, matching Yi Ting Siow (2005-07) and Carly Piper (2002-05) for the most weekly awards by a UW swimmer.
Wisconsin's swimmers are in the midst of a three-week break before heading to the Texas Invitational the weekend of Dec. 4-6. The Badgers' divers, meanwhile, make their second trip of the season to Tucson, Ariz., this weekend to compete in the Arizona Diving Invitational.
