Van Rooijen Wins Bronze At European Championships

Aug. 8, 2002

Berlin, Germany (hurricanesports.com) – University of Miami junior Manon van Rooijen (Westdorpe, Holland) won a bronze medal by swimming the lead leg of the Netherlands’ 4×100-meter freestyle relay at the European Swimming and Diving Championships in Berlin, Germany.

The Netherlands finished with a time of 3:41.98, behind gold medal winner Germany (3:36.00) and silver medallist Sweden (3:40.66). Germany’s winning time established a new world record.

Van Rooijen, who earned All-America honors in both the 100-yard freestyle and 200-yard freestyle this past season, reached the finals of the 200-meter freestyle where she took eighth.

The 2002 BIG EAST Most Valuable Swimmer, van Rooijen also helped her native country reach the finals of 4×200-meter freestyle relay and the 4×100-meter medley relay.

Also competing at the European Championships was former UM diver Imre Lengyel. Lengyel, who just completed his eligibility at Miami last season, won silver medals in both the individual and synchronized platform competitions.

Lengyel, the 2002 NCAA National Champion in the 10-meter platform, recorded 426.27 points in the finals finishing behind Germany’s Heiko Meyer who took the gold medal with a score of 492.39.

In the synchronized platform event Lengyel teamed with Andras Hajnal to earn a second silver medal. The two combined for a score of 315.06 finishing behind the Ukrainian team of Roman Volodkov and Anton Zakharov (340.20).

Another former UM diver Jose Gil also took home silver. Gil, the 1994 NCAA National Champion in the 1-meter, finished second in the 1-meter springboard at the European Championships with a score of 385.86. Italy’s Nicola Marconi won the gold medal with a score of 390.81.