Swimmers Earn National Awards
University of Indianapolis swimmer Maura Donahue was named the Counsilman-Hunsaker National Swimmer of the Week for NCAA Division II for the week of Nov. 21-27.
The award was prompted by Donahue’s performance the previous weekend at the Woekner Invitational, hosted by Wabash College. Donahue, a sophomore, accrued five “A” cut national qualifying times.
Donahue’s times in the 100, 200 and 500 free style and the 100 and 200 free style relays gave her one of the most successful weekends in Division II swimming, in terms of the number of “A” cut finishes achieved. Male and female swimmers from each NCAA division are selected for the honor, and this win marks Donahue’s second career receipt of the award.
Fellow swimmer junior Guy Kogel received this commendation a few weeks before Donahue this season. Swimming head coach Gary Kinkead explained this award is more competitive at this time in the season, which makes Donahue’s and Kogel’s awards something of which they should be proud.
“You don’t get selected for this all that often,” Kinkead said. “So it says a lot about a swimmer when they do, especially at this time in the season.”
Donahue was excited to have been selected for this award but said her main focus is on performing well at conference and nationals.
“I just want to stay healthy this season,” Donahue said. “ And I want to train hard and focus on succeeding at our conference and national meets.”
According to Kinkead, Donahue is an analytical athlete, asking questions and really focusing on what she is doing at each practice. Kinkead described this trait as an “awesome quality.”
“It’s the little things that make you an even better athlete,” he said.
The Greyhounds will continue their season Jan. 7-8 at the UIndy Invitational. Both Kinkead and Donahue described this as a great outlet for extra practice and preparation for nationals.
“I’ve been very impressed with the team so far this season,” Kinkead said. “But we are not finished. We have to keep up the hard work.”
He explained that this is a difficult time to stay focused.
“Coming up on finals week, it’s like the perfect storm,” Kinkead said. “Everyone has a lot going on, but we have to stay focused.”
Although there is still much to complete this season, the team has attracted fresh talent to the pool for next school year.
Currently five new swimmers and two new divers will join the roster next season, giving the Greyhounds the largest number of early signees in Kinkead’s 17 seasons at UIndy.
