ROSEMONT, Ill. - Penn State senior Shane Ryan (Havertown, Pa.) added a second weekly honor Wednesday, as he was named the Big Ten Men's Swimmer of the Week by the conference office for a second consecutive week. Ryan was named the CollegeSwimming.com Big Ten Men's Swimmer of the Week Tuesday.
It marks the fourth time in Ryan's career that he has been named the swimmer of the week by the Big Ten.
Saturday at Virginia Tech, Ryan swam the 100 backstroke in an NCAA event for the first time since taking bronze at the NCAA Championships in 2015, and he posted an NCAA B-cut time of 47.01 seconds to win the event and rank No. 1 in the NCAA early in the 2016-17 season.
Ryan also surpassed the provisional standard in the 100 freestyle, winning the event in 44.03 seconds - the fourth fastest time in the NCAA this season. Additionally, Ryan led the 200 medley relay (1:30.50) and 400 free relay (3:02.21) teams to second place finishes.
The recent Olympian returned to Penn State after spending the 2015-16 season across the pond in Ireland. Ryan competed for Ireland at the 2016 Rio Olympics, posting a top finish of 16th in the 100-meter backstroke.
Penn State will return to Virginia for a tri-meet against Virginia and Michigan Nov. 4-5.