July 10, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ââ'¬" The Penn State women's swimming team will have three student-athletes competing in the 2015 Pan American Games beginning Tuesday in Toronto, as Alyson Ackman will represent Canada and Melissa Rodriguez and incoming freshman Monika Gonzalez-Hermosillo will represent Mexico. Nittany Lion diving coach Dennis Ceppa is also at the games guiding the United States divers.
ESPN and ESPN Deportes will be broadcasting the events, starting with the opening ceremonies Friday at 7:30 p.m. Nearly every competition will be available on ESPN3.
The meet is the first of a handful of international and national meets that various Nittany Lions are slated to compete in.
Ackman will continue to swim for Canada following the Pan Am Games, also competing in the FINA World Championships, Aug. 2-9 in Kazan, Russia. Presently though, Ackman is focused on performing her best in front of the home crowd, and will count on previous experience to perform her best on the international stage.
"I am so excited for Pan Ams!" said Ackman. "After competing at last year's Commonwealth Games in Scotland, I have a better idea of what to expect, and I know the atmosphere will pump everyone up for some fast racing."
Ackman will be competing in the 4x100- and 4x200-meter freestyle relays on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively. She has been predominantly training under Pointe-Claire Swim Club coach Martin Gingras in Pointe-Claire, Quebec in preparation, but also participated in a training camp and meet in California at the end of May and used a trip to Jamaica for her sister's wedding as an opportunity to relax.
"Competing with the maple leaf on my cap is absolutely exhilarating!" said Ackman. "I couldn't be happier with the team I am competing with and the country I am racing for, while still representing Penn State. There are so many people who helped me get to where I am and I hope to make every one of them proud."
Ackman holds Penn State's records in the 100- and 200-yard freestyle events, while her time in the 200 is also the Big Ten's standard. A CSCAA Scholar All-American, Ackman earned All-America honors this past season as a member of Penn State's 800 freestyle relay team and honorable mention All-America honors as a member of Penn State's 200 free relay team and individually in the 100 and 200 frees. She has earned a total of 10 All-America honors in her collegiate career.
Melissa Rodriguez will be competing in the 200-meter breaststroke on Wednesday. Rodriguez holds the Nittany Lion record in the 200-yard breaststroke, setting it at the 2014 Big Ten Championships. She has also competed in the 100 and 200 breasts and 200 medley relays at the NCAA Championships in each of her three seasons swimming for the Blue and White.
Gonzalez-Hermosillo will compete in the preliminaries of the 400-meter individual medley on Thursday, and is looking to set a new personal record and qualify for the finals. Competing in the Pan Am Games is the realization of a dream and a goal she had been working towards for several years.
"This will be by far the biggest meet I have been to in my life, and it is the first time I'm part of the Senior Mexican national team," said Gonzalez-Hermosillo. "Getting to represent Mexico at such an important competition is not only a great honor; I also take it as a very big responsibility."
She has been training with her club team, Acuática Nelson Vargas, in Mexico City to prepare for the meet and also participated in a training camp in San Luis PotosÃÂ, La Loma for a week.
Coach Ceppa travelled to Toronto with Team USA this Monday to help the eight U.S. divers prepare for competition starting Friday, July 10 and concluding Monday July, 13. Ceppa was tapped to coach the U.S. Pan American squad for his efforts training senior divers Amanda Burke and Zac Nees. Nees will be competing in both the individual and synchronized 3-meter springboard.
"He's been diving very well and should have a great chance of earning a spot in the finals if he continues to perform as he currently is," said Ceppa.
Ceppa is joined by two other coaches: Matt Scoggin (Texas), who is the uncle of current Lion swimmer Sierra Scoggin (Reston, Va.), and Todd Weikel (Iowa).