Courtesy: MIT Athletics
WESTWOOD, Mass. (March 3) – After the men’s swimming and diving team won its 12th straight New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship and the women’s swimming and diving won its tenth consecutive league title last weekend, MIT has been honored with six major awards from the conference office.
Mary Frances Wagley ’47 Head Coach Meg Sisson French swept Coach of the Year accolades as she was named as both the NEWMAC Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year and the NEWMAC Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year this season. Senior Bouke Edskes (Rockville, Md.) was named as the NEWMAC Men’s Swimmer of the Year, first-year Adam Janicki (Falls Church, Va.) was named as the NEWMAC Men’s Rookie of the Year, senior Blake Zhou (Palo Alto, Calif.) was named as the NEWMAC Women’s Diver of the Year and first-year Edenna Chen (Colorado Springs, Colo.) was named as the NEWMAC Women’s Rookie of the Year.
Sisson French is the first MIT swimming and diving head coach in program history to sweep both Coach of the Year awards from the conference office. She is the first Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year since Dawn Dill earned the honor in 2009-10 and the first Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year since Samantha Pitter earned the award in 2012-13. This season, Sisson French led the MIT men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs to a combined 17-3 dual meet record with victories over nine nationally ranked teams, to a pair of NEWMAC Conference Championship titles and she will have 27 student-athletes (14 swimmer and 3 divers) compete at the NCAA Division III National Championship later in March.
Edskes, the first student-athlete in NEWMAC history to be named Men’s Swimmer of the Year three times, claimed five NEWMAC titles, earned Second Team All-Conference honors in one event and set four meet records as well as one MIT program record at the conference championship last weekend. In addition, the 17-time All-American broke the NCAA Division III men’s swimming and diving national record in the 100-IM for the second time in his career and has qualified for nationals for the fourth consecutive season.
Janicki, the sixth NEWMAC Men’s Rookie of the Year in program history, registered wins in the 200-back and the 400-medley relay with a meet and pool record at the conference championship meet. In addition, the rookie finished third in the 100-back and fifth in the 200-IM. Janicki will individually swim in the 100-back and 200-back at nationals and has also qualified for NCAA’s as a member of the 400-medley relay.
Zhou, now a two-time NEWMAC Women’s Diver of the Year, claimed the league title on the 1-meter board with a score of 505.15 and earned Second Team All-Conference accolades on the 3-meter board with 517.75 points. Zhou, a five-time All-American, then went to Diving Regionals this weekend and qualified for the NCAA Division III Championship for the fourth time. Zhou will be joined by Deborah Wen (Honolulu, Hawaii) and Jay Lang (South Lyon, Mich.) at NCAA’s later in March.
Chen, the seventh NEWMAC Women’s Rookie of the Year in program history, registered four wins and set two meet records at the conference championship last weekend. In addition, the first-year finished fourth in the 200-IM. Chen will individually swim in the 100-breast as the top-seed, the 200-breast and the 200-IM at nationals and will also swim as part of the 200-medley relay and the 400-medley relay in her first NCAA meet in a few weeks.
The NCAA Division III National Championship gets underway on March 18, 2020 in Greensboro, North Carolina at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.
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