The City University of New York Athletic Conference announced its weekly award winners late Friday evening, and Lehman College swimming sensation Judy Espinal was named conference Swimmer of the Week for the third time this season.
The standout earned the praise thanks to her three first place finishes this week as the Lightning locked up second place in the regular season standings. Against the York College Cardinals, Espinal's 200 yard medley relay time was fastest as she completed that event in a time of 2:27.99. The Long Island City High School product then recorded another first place finish in the 200 yard individual medley with a time of 2:34.08, and then she finished up the evening with one more fast finish as she claimed first place in the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 6:37.00. Head coach Peter Kiernan gave his thoughts on Espinal being named conference swimmer of the week.
“Judy has been great for us this season,” Kiernan said. “She has done a great job of not only putting forth some incredible times in the pool, but also by guiding the younger swimmers as well. She is the ultimate teammate, and her success has been vital to the overall success of the team this season. I am very proud of the season she has put together, and hopefully she can continue to impress as we look forward to the championship meet next week.”
The Lightning will try to win the women's title trophy for the first time in school history at their home pool next weekend, February 4-6.