Nov. 25, 2009
Texas A&M seniors Nikita Denisyako and Kristen Heiss gave the Aggies a clean sweep of the Big 12 Swimmer of the Week honors, the conference office announced on Wednesday.
Denisyako, from Moscow, Russia, won four individual races and swam on a pair of victorious relays in the Aggie men's wins over Harvard and Boston University, while Heiss, from Casper, Wyo., set a Big 12 record and won a pair of races at the Cougar Classic Fall Invitational to earn the honors.
Denisyako had wins in the 200 IM (1:51.80) and the 200 back (1:50.97) and swam the backstroke leg on the victorious 400 medley relay (3:23.00) in the Aggies' 131.5-102.5 win over Harvard. A day later, Denisyako contributed wins in the 200 freestyle (1:41.27) and the 100 fly (49.69) and led off the winning 200 medley relay (1:31.20) in A&M's 135-108 victory over the Terriers.
Heiss was dominant on her way to a school and Big 12 record in the 500-yard freestyle in the Aggies' team victory at the Cougar Classic. Heiss hit the wall in an NCAA "A" cut time of 4:38.24, which broke the school and Big 12 record she had set at the 2008 NCAA Championships. Heiss also logged an individual win in the 200 backstroke (1:53.50) and helped the 400 and 800 free relays to victory. She posted NCAA qualifiers in all five events that she swam at the meet.
Taking Big 12 Diver of the Week honors were Greg DeStephen of Missouri and Tien Tran of Iowa State.