SMCM SWIMMING

Klose Named SMCM Athlete of the Month

Men’s Swimmer Honored For Record-Breaking Performances In Month of February

St. Mary’s City, Md. -- Alexander Klose has been selected as the St. Mary’s College of Maryland Athlete of the Month for February of 2002. Klose, a sophomore from Bethesda, Maryland, helped the men’s swim team to a second-place finish at the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) swimming championships held February 15-17, at Mary Washington College. It is the highest finish ever for a St. Mary’s team at the CAC swimming championships.At the championships, Klose set two individual school records and was part of a relay team that also set a school record.

In the 100 breaststroke, Klose claimed his first CAC individual title, finishing with a time of 0:59.29, setting a new school record in the process. He just missed out on an NCAA national cut time by one tenth of a second.Klose claimed his second CAC individual title in the 200 breaststroke, finishing with a time of 2:10.07, also good enough for a new school record. He missed the NCAA national cut time by just seven one-hundredths of a second. As a member of the 200 medley relay, Klose set a third school record at the championships by helping the team finish in 1:39.33, which was good for second place behind only Mary Washington in the relay. As a team, the St. Mary’s College men’s swimming program finished the season with a dual meet record of 5-3 overall and 4-3 in the CAC. The team achieved their highest-ever finish at the CAC championships, finishing with 312 points, good for second place behind conference champion, Mary Washington College.