February 18, 2001

Lancaster, PA - The Swarthmore College women's swim team captured the 2001 Centennial Conference Swimming Championships held at McGinness Pool on the campus of Franklin & Marshall College. Swarthmore won its first Centennial women's swimming championship by upsetting seven-time Conference champion Gettysburg, 679-639. The Garnet placed second behind the Bullets the previous six years.

Junior Alice Bonarou's (Athens, Greece) first place finish in the 100 butterfly (59.67) and sophomore Natalie Briones' (Montevideo, MN) gold in the 100 breaststroke (1:08.92) propelled the Garnet. The duo teamed up with senior Becca Howes-Mischel (Venice, CA) and sophomore Davita Burkhead-Weiner (Bloomfield, MI) to capture the 400 medley relay (4:04.48) and with first-year's Tara Trout (Bath, PA) and Leah Davis (Palo Alto, CA) to take second in the 200 medley relay (1:53.18). Bonarou also earned a silver in the 200 butterfly (2:12.09) and a bronze in the 200 individual medley (2:14.38) while Briones earned silvers in the 50 (24.93) and 100 freestyle (54.57) and Howes-Mischel earned silvers in the 100 (1:02.38) and 200 (2:12.69) backstroke.

The 200 freestyle relay team of Davis, Trout, Burkhead-Weiner, and junior Amy Auerbach (Timonium, MD) set a school record with a second place finish in a time of 1:41.69. Davis earned a bronze in the 50 freestyle (25.35) while Burkhead-Weiner placed third in the 100 butterfly (1:00.80) and 100 freestyle (54.93). The team of Briones, Burkhead-Weiner, Auerbach and first-year Krista Gigone (Meadville, PA) placed second in the 800 freestyle relay (8:05.46). Auerbach placed fourth in both the 200 freestyle (1:58.80) and the 200 butterfly (2:16.16) while Gigone placed fourth in the 400 individual medley (4:52.02). First-year Meredith Leigh (Menomonee Falls, WI) earned a bronze in the 400 IM (4:46.60) and placed fourth in the 200 breaststroke (2:33.96).