Courtesy: Pittsburgh Athletics
PITTSBURGH—University of Pittsburgh student-athletes claimed both ACC Swimmer of the Week awards as the conference recognized Pitt’s Rachel Brown and Blaise Vera on Monday for their efforts in the Panthers’ sweep of West Virginia last Saturday at Trees Pool.
After winning multiple freestyle swimming events for the Panthers against the Mountaineers, Brown and Vera both earned a weekly award from the ACC for the first time in their collegiate career.
A senior from High Point, N.C., Brown won all three of her individual events against West Virginia to help the Pitt women extend their winning streak to seven over the Mountaineers with a 197.5-102.5 triumph.
Brown took first in the 50-yard freestyle (22.96 seconds), 100-yard freestyle (50.51) and 200-yard freestyle (1:48.52) to earn maximum team points in each event. Brown also led off the victorious Pitt 400-yard freestyle relay.
Vera continued his stand-out sophomore campaign with two dominant victories on Saturday.
The sophomore native of Clinton, Miss., crushed the competition in the 50-yard freestyle (19.71) and 100-yard freestyle (43.88)—two events in which Vera broke the Pitt school record in November at the Ohio State Invitational. Before posting an NCAA B cut qualifying time in the 50 free, Vera also anchored Pitt’s 200-yard medley relay, leading the Panthers to a dramatic comeback win in the event that propelled the home team to a 175-125 dual meet win against rival West Virginia.
Brown and Vera are the first Panthers to be honored as weekly ACC award winners in swimming & diving during the 2018-19 season.
The Pitt swimming & diving programs will compete next Friday at Denison for a dual meet before returning home for the traditional Western Pennsylvania Invitational at Trees Pool on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 25-26 against several regional collegiate teams.
