Elizabeth Beisel Named Rhode Island Female Athlete of the Year for Third Consecutive Year
Tuesday, February 1, 2011 | Women's Swimming & Diving
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Gator freshman swimmer Elizabeth Beisel (North Kingstown, R.I.) was named the Rhode Island Female Athlete of the Year for the third consecutive year, announced Monday by Words Unlimited, a Rhode Island organization of sportswriters, sportscasters and sports publicists. Beisel will be honored at the 65th annual Sports Awards Banquet on Sunday, Feb. 20, at 5 p.m., at The Radisson in Warwick, R.I.
“I'm very excited and privileged to again be honored with such a prestigious award,” Beisel said. “I appreciate everything the state of Rhode Island has done for me – especially my family. I also want to thank Words Unlimited for the fantastic job they do each and everyadmin year. This truly means a lot to me.”
In her first season in Gainesville, Beisel has already become the first freshman in SEC history to be awarded SEC Female Swimmer of the Week three times in the same season. The Rhode Island native automatically qualified for the 2011 NCAA Championships in the women's 400-yard individual medley, clocking in at 4:06.84 at the 2010 Georgia Tech Fall Invitational. The time is currently the ninth-fastest time in the NCAA this year.
Beisel's NCAA provisional time in the women's 200-yard backstroke (1:54.27) is currently seventh-fastest nationally this year in the event. Beisel swam the time on Nov. 5 at Stanford, and for her efforts, was named CollegeSwimming.com's Counsilman-Hunsaker National Collegiate Female Swimmer of the Week on Nov. 10 for the first time in her career.
In the victory over Indian River State College this past Sunday, Beisel swam the eighth-fastest time in the NCAA this year in the women's 1,000-yard freestyle (9:48.58). This past week, Beisel was one of an NCAA-leading three current Gators named to the United States' 2011 FINA World Championship Team.
The 2008 Olympian made the team after capturing a gold medal in both the 200-meter back and 400-meter IM this past August at the 2010 Mutual of Omaha Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, Calif. Beisel broke the meet and school record in the 400 IM (4:34.04) on the second day of Pan Pacs, while breaking the 200 back meet record the following day (2:07.83).
The freshman returns to the pool at the 2011 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships, which Florida hosts for the first time since 2005. The swimming portion will take place at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center Feb. 16-19. For the latest in Florida swimming and diving, fans are also encouraged to follow the program on Twitter and Facebook.
