Krawczyk Primed for NCAA Championships

March 15, 2004

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Sophomore Martyna Krawczyk (Looz, Poland) will represent the University of Miami swimming team in the 100 and 200-meter breaststroke this weekend at the 2004 Swimming and Diving Championships in College Station, Texas.

Krawczyk will make her first appearance at the national championships after earning a birth with a time of 2:15.34 in the 200-yard breaststroke at the BIG EAST Championships earlier this season.

“I’m excited for Martyna to make the NCAA’s this season,” Head Coach Mariusz Podkoscielny said. “She came very close to making the cut last year, so it was great to see her finish this season strong and make the NCAA Championships. She is our only qualifier this season and will help build on the tradition here at Miami.”

Krawczyk’s mark of 2:15.34 in the 200-yard breaststroke broke the school record of 2:15.66 set by Kristel Tellegen in 1997.

With this being and Olympic year, the NCAA Championships will be raced in short-course meters, rather than traditional yards.

“She (Krawczyk) is seeded 28th and needs to finish around 16th to make the finals,” Podkoscielny added. “Martyna is more than capable of making the cut, but we will see how she responds to the short-course. This type of race changes how you approach the course – it changes your turns and endurance. She has been training for the past four weeks and should be ready.”

The 2004 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships will begin on Thursday, March 18, running through Saturday, March 20.