March 13, 2002

AUSTIN, TX. - On March 21-23, two Villanova swimmers - junior Maddy Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa./ Germantown Academy) and sophomore Rebecca Koch (Sugarland, Texas/ Clements High School) - will travel to Austin, Texas, to compete in the 2002 NCAA Women's Swimming & Diving Championships.

For Koch, this will be her first of what appears to be many NCAA Championship appearances. She will swim in the 100, 200 and 500 yard freestyle events at the meet. Just last month at the 2002 Big East Conference Championships on Feb. 21-23, Koch finished in fourth place in the 200 and 500 yard freestyle events and fifth in the 100 yard freestyle.

The 2002 NCAA Championships will be the third for Crippen - Villanova's first female swimmer ever to make the United States Olympic Team. She finished sixth in the 400m individual medley at the 2000 Summer Olympic in Sydney, Australia. Crippen will compete in the 400 yard individual medley and the 500 and 1,650 yard freestyle events at the this year's NCAA Championships.

At Crippen's first-ever NCAA meet in 1999, she won an NCAA title in the 400 yard individual medley (4:06.76). She became only the second Villanova female swimmer to ever win a national title. Crippen also finished third in the 200 yard breaststroke and fifth in the 500 yard freestyle at the 1999 NCAA Championships. Just last season, Crippen placed fifth in the 400 yard individual medley at the 2001 NCAA Championships.

In addition to her accomplishments at the national level, Crippen is also a two-time Big East Conference Most Outstanding Female Swimmer. She currently has nine individual Big East titles and one conference relay championship to her credit.