Bimmler, Yoshida, Bolstad, and Eliazar Earn Weekly Awards
MAAC Sports
Edison, NJ – Paul Bimmler of Fairfield University was selected as the MAAC Men’s Swimmer of the Week, while fellow Stag Michelle Yoshida earned the women’s award. Marist College swept the Diver of the Week awards for the second straight week, with Brian Bolstad winning on the men’s side and Chelaine Eliazer taking the women’s honors.
Bimmler, a freshman from Reading, Massachusetts, continued his strong work in the pool, capturing five individual events and a relay, setting records in three of them, in Fairfield's 2-0 week. Against Bryant, Bimmler broke his own school records in the 50m free (24.17) and the 100m free (54.12) and picked up first-place points in both events. He swam the fastest anchor leg (23.93) of the victorious 200m medley relay that just missed a program record with a time of 1:52.87. He also swam the anchor (53.81) of the fastest 400m freestyle relay in the pool, which posted a time of 3:43.68 and broke a nine-year-old program record. Against NJIT, Bimmler won the 200m free with a time of 2:01.84, posted the fastest time in the 100 back (1:03.29), and swam the fastest lead leg (29.23) of the 200m medley relay that had a time of 2:00.68 to place second.
Yoshida, a sophomore from Kaneohe, Hawaii, won four events, setting records in three of them, in Fairfield's 2-0 week. Against Bryant, Yoshida captured the 50m free (no time available due to timing malfunction). She also won the 100m backstroke with a time of 1:05.18, breaking a 10-year-old program record. She swam the fastest lead leg (31.43) in the 200m medley relay, helping the Stags to a first-place finish in a time of 2:05.33, which broke their own school record. Against NJIT, Yoshida posted the fastest time in the 400m free, clocking a 4:31.87, breaking a 22-year-old program record. Yoshida is now a part of 20 of the 37 possible Fairfield records.
Bolstad, a junior from Highland, New York, won both the 1- and 3-meter boards in a dual meet with Binghamton at the McCann Center on Saturday afternoon. He scored 305.40 points in the 3-meter event, besting the rest of the field by more than 43 points or more. Bolstad is now 5-0 in 3-meter events this season. He also beat his competitors by over 50 points off the 1-meter board as he scored 304.60 points.
Eliazar, a freshman from Honolulu, Hawaii, won the 3-meter board as Marist defeated Siena and Binghamton on Saturday afternoon in a tri-meet at the McCann Center. She scored 201.90 points off the 3-meter board to capture first place, while she notched 187.45 in 1-meter diving, good for a strong second place finish.
The 2010 MAAC Swimming and Diving Championships will be held February 11-13 at Loyola College in Baltimore, Md.