Swimming Captains Announced for 2008-09 Season
May 08, 2008 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Jen Illescas and Christine Zwiegers, both currently juniors, have been announced as the captains for the University of Wisconsin women's swimming and diving team for the 2008-09 season.
'I'm proud of the progress that both of them have made and how they 've made it,' head swimming coach Eric Hansen said. 'Jen and Christine bring experience, knowledge and success to the table in leading our current team and incoming freshman.'
Illescas, a native of East Elmhurst, N.Y., competed this past season in the freestyle, IM and butterfly. She competed at the NCAA championships for the second time in her career this year and picked up honorable mention All-America honors in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:19.54). This is in addition to the honorable mention All-America honors she picked up as a freshman competing in the 800-yard freestyle relay (7:17.06). A second-team All-Big Ten honoree this season, Illescas had the team's best time in the 200-yard freestyle (1:47.66) and 200-yard butterfly (1:59.22) individually, and was a member of the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:17.98) and 800-yard freestyle relay (7:15.72) that were tops on the year. She was also named Big Ten Swimmer of the Week for December 11 as she recorded an NCAA `B' time in each of the five events she entered at the Texas Invitational.
A native of Somerset West, South Africa, Zwiegers is an All-American, a two-time honorable mention All-American and a two-time second-team All-Big Ten honoree. Competing in the freestyle and the butterfly, she led the team in the 100-yard butterfly this year with a time of 53.78, while also posting the top time as a member of the 200-yard medley relay team (1:39.24) and the 400-yard medley relay team (3:40.06). At the 2008 NCAA championships, Zwiegers was a member of the 200-yard freestyle relay team that placed fourth with a time of 1:29.18. The fourth place finish was the best in the event in school history at the NCAA championships. She finished the season with three victories and was named the team's Most Improved Swimmer.
'I'm excited about our future and our leadership for the 2008-09 season,' Hansen said.
