April 8, 2011
RICHMOND, Va. -- Old Dominion junior Arni Arnason (Mosfellsbaer, Iceland) was chosen as the 2011 CAA Men's Swimmer of the Year and Sidni Hoxha (Tirane, Albania) was named the Co-CAA Men's Swimming Rookie of the Year in a vote by the league's head coaches it was announced Friday by the conference office.
In all, Arnason picked up six All-CAA honors - 100 & 200 breast, 200 IM, 200 & 400 free relay, and 200 medley relay - and to date has been named all-conference 15 times.
Arnason earned CAA Swimmer of the Year accolades for the second time, having also won the award in 2009. The junior captured three events and set a pair of records at the CAA Swimming Championship. He broke the conference record in winning the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:47.62 and also set a new meet record in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 1:56.58. His third victory came in the 100 breaststroke where he touched the wall in a time of 53.55. Arnason was selected as the CAA Men's Swimmer of the Meet for his efforts.
Hoxha, the co-Rookie of the Year, earned All-CAA as the CAA champion in the 50 meter freestyle with a time of 20.01 and as the conference champion in the 100 freestyle with a time of 44.56. He also placed eighth in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:40.96.
Freshman Daniel Camozzo (Herndon, Va.) earned two All-CAA honors in the 200 and 500 free. In the 200 free, he took second by hitting the wall in a time of 1:38.57, narrowly missing out on the top time by .11 seconds. Camozzo's time was not only his personal best of the season, but second fastest Monarch time in the books. Camozzo also placed second with a NCAA "B" cut time in the 500 free setting a new ODU record of 4:28.06, replacing the previous Monarch benchmark of 4:28.70 set by Jimmy Sullivan back in 1999.
Senior Mikael Ramkvist (Bjarred, Sweden) placed second in the 100 back clocking with a time of 50.28 to earn All-CAA honors. During the prelims, Ramkvist posted his personal best with a time of 50.20, the second fastest finish in the ODU record books. In addition to his two All-CAA accolades with the relay teams, Ramkvist has earned 11 all-conference honors in his career.
Sophomore Jason Brame (Lynchburg, Va.) set a new Monarch benchmark in the 400 IM en-route to all-conference honors in the event. Brame took third in the 400 IM with a time of 3:54.88, surpassing the previous ODU record of 3:56.96 set by John Wenham in 1996.
Three relay squads also earned all-conference honors. The Monarchs' 200 medley relay team of Ramkvist, Arnason, junior Bikir Jonsson (Keflavik, Iceland), and Hoxha swam to third place finish in a time of 1:30.01, the second fasted ODU record in the logs. The men's 200 free relay team comprised of Hoxha, Arnason, senior Ryan Peart (Fort Washington, Va.), and senior Josh Kinas (Resont, Va.) placed second in a time 1:21.27 and captured not only a NCAA "B" cut time, but the second fastest time in the ODU record books, a mere .06 seconds off the all-time record. The 400 free relay team gave the Monarchs its fifth NCAA "B" cut time of the championship with Hoxha, Peart, Ramkvist, and Anrason registering a time of 3:01.00, the second fastest time in the Monarch record books.
The Old Dominion Monarchs finished fifth at the CAA Championships in February.
2011 ODU All-CAA Men's Swimming:
50-Freestyle: Sidni Hoxha, Old Dominion
100-Freestyle: Sidni Hoxha, Old Dominion
200-Freestyle: Daniel Camozzo, Old Dominion
500-Freestyle: Daniel Camozzo, Old Dominion
100-Breaststroke: Arni Arnason, Old Dominion
200-Breaststroke: Arni Arnason, Old Dominion
100-Backstroke: Mikael Ramkvist, Old Dominion
200-Individual Medley: Arni Arnason, Old Dominion
400-Individual Medley: Jason Brame, Old Dominion
200-Freestyle Relay: Old Dominion (Sidni Hoxha, Arni Arnason, Ryan Peart, Joshua Kinas)
400-Freestyle Relay: Old Dominion (Sidni Hoxha, Ryan Peart, Mikael Ramkvist, Arni Arnason)
200-Medley Relay: Old Dominion (Mikael Ramkvist, Arni Arnason, BirkirMar Jonnson, Sidni Hoxha)