Annie Chandler swims in the 100-yard breaststroke at the 2010 Pac-10 championships.
Photo by Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE
University of Arizona swimmer Annie Chandler has been selected the Pac-10 Woman of the Year.
Chandler is now in the running for NCAA Woman of the Year, an honor won by a Wildcats swimmer in each of the past two seasons — Justine Schluntz in 2010 and Lacey Nymeyer in 2009.
That all speaks to the kind of program run by Frank Busch, who left after last season to become the national team director for USA Swimming. Eric Hansen is now in charge of the Arizona program.
Here is the press release from the University of Arizona about Chandler:
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. – University of Arizona swimmer Annie Chandler has been named the Conference Woman of the Year for the 2010-11 academic year, Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott announced today. Chandler moves on to become a candidate for the NCAA Woman of the Year honor. The NCAA Woman of the Year Award honors graduating student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, community service and leadership.
A native of San Antonio, Texas, Chandler graduated cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree in journalism and a minor in art history. Named to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-America first team in 2010, Chandler was awarded the John C. Clum Award for her superior work on the Tombstone Epitaph, Arizona’s biweekly newspaper where she served as the managing editor and was also published in Swimming World Magazine last year with a feature titled “Last Stand.”
Chandler was selected to the Pac-10 All-Academic first team last year after previously receiving two honorable mention nods. She was also a finalist for the University of Arizona’s Outstanding Senior Awards presented at the 2010 commencement ceremony.
An 18-time All-American, Chandler swam on six NCAA Champion relay teams for the Wildcats. She helped Arizona to victories in the 200 medley relay in 2007, 2008 and 2010, and three-straight titles in the 400 medley relay from 2008-2010, contributing in the breaststroke and individual medley events. Her performances helped Arizona capture its first NCAA team championship in 2008.
A member of three Pac-10 Championship teams (2006-08), Chandler still holds the NCAA record in the 100 breaststroke, which she set in 2010. She sits atop UA records in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, and 200 and 400 medley relays. A two-time U.S. National Team member, Chandler has represented the United States internationally, including at the 2010 Pan Pacific Championships. She was named the Phoenix Women’s Sports Association Sportswoman of the Year in 2010, as well as the Ruby Award winner, given to the top female athlete at Arizona.
Chandler has dedicated her time to helping numerous Tucson, Ariz., organizations during her time on campus. Among the numerous community service organizations with which she has volunteered, she visited patients at the United Medical Center Hospital, distributed Christmas gifts to the Casa de los Ninos children’s home, read to elementary school children during “Love of Reading Week” and participated in Jim Click Run ‘N’ Roll, a fundraiser for the University of Arizona’s adaptive athletics program for disabled athletes. The Wildcats’ team captain during the 2009-10 year, Chandler also served as a peer athletic leader to help incoming freshmen student-athletes at Arizona.
Chandler is the sixth female student-athlete, the third-straight and fourth overall Arizona swimmer to be named Pac-10 Woman of the Year. Previous winners were: Justine Schluntz, ARIZ (2010); Lacey Nymeyer, ARIZ (2009); Arianna Lambie, STAN (2008); Whitney Myers, ARIZ (2007); Kate Richardson, UCLA (2006).
Schluntz (2010), Nymeyer (2009) and former Wildcat track & field athlete Tanya Jones (1994) are the only three student-athletes from the Conference to have won the NCAA Woman of the Year award.