April 11, 2012
RICHMOND, Va. -- Old Dominion senior swimmer Arni Arnason (Mosfellsbaer, Iceland) has been named the 2012 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Men's Swimmer of the Year it was announced on Wednesday by the conference office.
Arnason has won the conference's top swimming honor in three of his four seasons with the Monarchs. He is the third person to receive CAA Swimmer of the Year honors three times, joining JMU's Randy Parker (1986-88) and George Mason's Tom Koucheravy (2005-07).
The senior Monarch has concluded his career as one of the most decorated Monarchs in ODU men's swimming history. An Honorable Mention All-American, he finished in 11th place in the 100 breaststroke at the 2012 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming & Diving Championships. A five-time CAA Men's Swimmer of the Week in 2012, he earned his second straight CAA Championship "Most Outstanding Swimmer" honor after taking home titles and earning All-CAA honors in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, 200 individual medley, and as a member of the 400 medley relay squad this season. With his six All-CAA honors this season, Arnason has collected All-Conference 21 times in his four-year career.
He holds eight ODU records with the all-time top times in the 100 freestyle, 100 and 200 breaststroke and 200 individual medley as well records as a member of the 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams and 200 and 400 medley relay squads.Arnason was previously named the CAA Men's Swimmer of the Year as a freshman in 2009 and as a junior in 2011 in addition to this year's honor. He has also made two NCAA appearances having swam in the 2009 NCAA Championships in three events - 50 freestyle and 100 & 200 breaststroke, as well as competing in this year's 100 breaststroke.
Also earning honors from the CAA were sophomore Sidni Hoxha (Tirane, Albania), Bernardo Figueredo (Brazil), Jason Haigh (Williamsburg, Va.), as well three of the Monarch relay squads.
Hoxha, last year's Rookie of the Year, earned a pair of All-CAA honors as the champion in the 50 freestyle and with a second place finish in the 100 freestyle. In the 50 free, Hoxha captured a new ODU benchmark and NCAA "B" cut time of 19.71 becoming the second ever Monarch to come in under the 20-second mark in the event, while he tied the school record of 44.31 in the 100 freestyle.
Figueredo earned All-CAA accolades in the distance events with a pair of third-place finishes and ODU record setting times in the 1650 and 500 freestyle. He collected a time of 15:23.90 in the 1650 freestyle resetting a mark that had stood since 1999 and swam to a record time of 4:26.34 in the 500 freestyle.
Haigh earned All-Conference accolades in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke. The sophomore Monarch captured a personal best of 55.80 in finishing the 100 breaststroke in third place, putting his name third all-time in the Monarch record books. He also earned All-CAA in the 200 breaststroke with a third place time of 2:01.30 and the second fastest time in ODU history behind Arnason.
Arnason and Hoxha along with Birkir Jonsson (Keflavik, Iceland) and Andrew Crockett (Toano, Va.) earned All-CAA awards with the 200 and 400 medley relay teams. In the 400 medley relay, the Monarch squad raced to an NCAA "B" cut time of 3:16.01 and new ODU record for the CAA title, while they placed second in the 200 medley relay with a new ODU record of 1:29.33.
Arnason, Hoxha, and Crockett along with Daniel Camozzo (Lynchburg, Va.) were All-CAA selections in the 400 freestyle relay. Together they swam to a third place finish in a time off 3:01.38.
The Old Dominion men's swimming and diving team concluded the 2012 CAA Championships in fourth place.
2012 ODU ALL-CAA MEN'S SWIMMERS:
50-Freestyle: Sidni Hoxha
100-Freestyle: Sidni Hoxha
500-Freestyle: Bernardo Figueredo
1650-Freestyle: Bernardo Figueredo
100-Breaststroke: Arni Arnason, Jason Haigh
200-Breaststroke: Arni Arnason, Jason Haigh
200-Individual Medley: Arni Arnason
400-Freestyle Relay: Old Dominion (Arni Arnason, Daniel Camozzo, Drew Crockett, Sidni Hoxha)
200-Medley Relay: Old Dominion (Birkir Jonsson, Arni Arnason, Drew Crockett, Sidni Hoxha)
400-Medley Relay: Old Dominion (Birkir Jonsson, Arni Arnason, Drew Crockett, Sidni Hoxha)