July 31, 2012
LONDON - Rising junior Old Dominion swimmer Sidni Hoxha captured the top time in his opening heat in the men's 100 freestyle on Tuesday at the 2012 London Olympics.
Hoxha, representing his native Albania, swam to a first place finish in heat #3 in a time of 51.11, .33 seconds ahead of Kevin Avila Soto of Guatemala for the top time of the heat and 37th overall.
Hoxha, the 2011 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) 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 at the 2012 CAA Championships. 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.
Former Monarch Arni Arnason, who was named the CAA Men's Swimmer of the Year in three of his four seasons with the Monarchs and concluded his career as one of the most decorated Monarchs in ODU men's swimming history with eight school records, will swim in the 50 freestyle on August 2nd for his native Iceland.
For more information, log on to London2012.com.