Oct. 20, 2008
COLLEGE STATION - Texas A&M freshman swimmer Lauren Clifford (Pollock Pines, Calif.) has been named to the USA Swimming Scholastic All-American team, the organization announced this week.
Clifford was one of exactly 600 girls nationwide honored for her academic excellence by USA Swimming. To be named to the team, an athlete must have been in the 10th, 11th, or 12th grade during the 2007-08 academic year, be a USA Swimming member athlete, participated in an individual event that met the Junior National Bonus Time Standard between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2008, and have earned a 3.5 or better grade-point average.
Clifford has already begun her A&M swimming career with a bang. The 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier in the 100-meter butterfly opened her collegiate career by setting a lifetime-best at that race in the yards distance to earn a win for the Aggies against North Texas and Rice on Oct. 10. Clifford bested her prior lifetime best swim of 56.42 by hitting the wall first in 55.79. She also finished second, behind freshman teammate Rita Medrano (Aguascalientes, Mexico), in the 200 fly in 2:04.69, just over a second off her career best time in that event.