After a memorable senior season that culminated in two individual Big Ten titles, two Big Ten records and three top eight finishes at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, IU senior Allysa Vavra was named the Big Ten Swimmer of the Year by the conference Wednesday afternoon.
Heading into the season, Vavra had already compiled an impressive resume, with four All-American honors and three Big Ten titles under her belt. She also owned the school records in the 200-yard breaststroke, and the 200- and 400-yard Individual Medley events. This season, Vavra extended on those marks.
During the regular season, Vavra won nine events, including three in a key team victory against rival Purdue. Vavra also broke her own school record in the 200-yard Individual Medley during the Georgia Invitational, posting a mark of 1:56.80 in the process. She then finished runner-up in the 400-yard IM in the same race as Cal's Caitlin Leverenz (2012 400-IM NCAA Runner-Up) in the same meet, posting the then-third-fastest time in school history of 4:04.60.
By the time the Big Ten Championships came around in mid-February, an unshaved and unrested Vavra broke her own school record in the 200-IM again, once in preliminaries (1:56.30), and again in finals, where she won her fourth career Big Ten title in a conference record time of 1:55.44. Only a day later, Vavra again set a Big Ten record, this time in the 400-yard Individual Medley, posting a time of 4:01.41 en route to her fifth Big Ten title. Finally, on the last day of the meet, Vavra broke her own school record in the 200-yard breaststroke in a third place finish, with a time of 2:08.79 in the finals of the event.
At the conclusion of the meet, Vavra was named the Swimmer of the Championships, and was named to the first team All-Big Ten.
"I know I am capable of swimming fast tired, and I think it just comes down to being confident in yourself and trusting your training," Vavra said at the conclusion of the Big Ten Championships. "I also have been to this meet before and knew what to expect of myself, so I just tried my hardest, and if that resulted in best times, then that's even better."
At the 2012 NCAA Championships, Vavra finished eighth in the 200-yard Individual Medley (1:56.60), fifth in the 400-yard Individual Medley (4:01.73) and eighth in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:09.61), earning All-American honors in all three events. In her two IM finals, the NCAA record was broken in each race, and in the 200-yard breaststroke, the NCAA record was missed by only one-hundredth of a second.
Vavra is the third ever Indiana swimmer to win the prestigious award, as decided by the coaches of the Big Ten Conference. The last IU swimmer to receive the honor was Kate Fesenko in 2010.
