Jan. 25, 2017
ROSEMONT, Ill. - Penn State senior Shane Ryan (Havertown, Pa.) and freshman Kaelan Freund (Lethbridge, Alberta) continue to stand out in the Big Ten, as the two Nittany Lions were named the Big Ten Men's Swimmer and Freshman Men's Swimmer of the Week, respectively, for the third consecutive time Wednesday by the Big Ten Conference office.
Ryan and Freund earned the same platitudes following their two previous meets, Nov. 23 following the Ohio State Invitational and last week following a dual meet win over Yale.
Ryan has now claimed the Big Ten weekly honor following six of the seven meets he has swam in this season and eight times for his career. He now ranks in a three-way tie for most Big Ten weekly awards in conference history with 10 (he was twice named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week in 2012-13) along with Michigan's Peter Vanderkaay and Northwestern's Matt Grevers. Michigan's Dylan Bosch holds the record at 14.
Ryan and Freund led Penn State to a 173-127 victory over Navy Saturday, as both won three individual events each and were contributors to separate winning relay efforts.
Ryan's final competitive swims in McCoy Natatorium were highlighted by breaking his own pool record in the 100 freestyle with a swim of 42.99 seconds. His other individual event wins included the 50 free in 19.76 seconds - four-hundreths of a second shy of his own pool record set last week - and the 100 fly in 48.01. Lastly, he rallied the 400 freestyle relay team to a come-from-behind victory on the final leg to close out the meet. The Lions trailed by eight-tenths of a second after three legs of the 400 free relay, but Ryan regained the lead by 0.18 seconds after 50 yards and ultimately out swam Navy's anchor leg by exactly two seconds to win the race.
Ryan's season-bests rank in the top 10 in the Big Ten in five different events. He leads the 100 back (45.75) and ranks second in the 100 free (42.49), sixth in the 50 free (19.68), seventh in the 200 free (1:35.75) and ninth in the 100 fly (47.24).
Against Navy, Freund swept the 100 (55.10) and 200 (2:02.17) breaststrokes, earned a win in the 200 IM (1:50.60), and opened the meet by contributing to a winning effort in the 200 medley relay. His best 100 (54.75) and 200 (1:59.65) times rank 13th and 12th, respectively, in the Big Ten.
Penn State will next host the Penn State Zone A Diving Invitational Saturday and Sunday, Jan 28-29. The entire team will be back in action the following week at Villanova, Feb. 3.
2016-17 Big Ten Men's Swimmer/Diver of the Week - Penn State
Oct. 12
S: Shane Ryan, Sr., PSU
D: Hector Garcia Boissier, So., PSU
Oct. 19
S: Shane Ryan, Sr., PSU
Nov. 9
S: Shane Ryan, Sr., PSU
Nov. 23
S: Shane Ryan, Sr., PSU
F: Kaelan Freund, PSU
Jan. 18
S: Shane Ryan, Sr., PSU
F: Kaelan Freund, PSU
Jan. 25
S: Shane Ryan, Sr., PSU
F: Kaelan Freund, PSU