University of Tennessee Athletics
Persson, Sanders Win SEC Awards
November 08, 2007 | Men's Swimming & Diving
The Southeastern Conference announced its swimmer of the week awards on Wednesday, and Tennessee produced two honorees for last week???s performance against second-ranked and five-time defending national champion Auburn. Junior Jonas Persson won the SEC Swimmer of the Week, and Geoff Sanders was named SEC Freshman Swimmer of the Week.
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At the dual meet against Auburn, Persson won both the 100 and 200 freestyles with times of 43.62 and 1:36.40, respectively. Both times met the NCAA Championships qualifying standards and currently rank him first in the SEC in both events. Persson also led the 400 freestyle relay to victory with a 42.79 100-yard split, which was a personal best. Persson is a seven-time Swedish national champion and will likely represent Sweden in the Beijing Olympics.
Sanders, a freshman distance freestyler, captured first place in the both the 500 and 1000 freestyles in 4:29.12 and 9:16.06, respectively, while also helping the 400 freestyle B-relay on its way to a third-place finish. In the 1000 freestyle relay, he beat Auburn???s Robert Looney by more than 10 seconds, finishing with a time that ranks him in the all-time top 15 at UT. His 500 freestyle time is currently the sixth-best in the SEC this season, and his 1000 freestyle time ranks fourth.
The Vols next travel to Charlottesville, Va., on Nov. 15 to take on the Cavaliers. The meet is set to start at noon.
