Three members of the VMI swimming and diving team earned America East Conference weekly awards this week after the Keydets competed at Old Dominion University Jan. 12, 2019. Cadet Stephen Hopta ’22 earned Male Swimmer of the Week accolades. The 4th Class cadet from McMurray, Pennsylvania, took third place in the 200 free (1:43.95) at ODU to break the program record and surpass the old mark of 1:44.11 set by Christian Shaner ’16 in 2013.
Hopta also won the 200 back (1:54.50) and took second in the 500 free (4:47.46). He was a key part of the Keydet 400-free relay team that won the race in 3:12.51.
Cadets Stephen Hopta ’22
Cadet Calle Biles ’20 took home America East’s Female Diver of the Week Award. The Vienna, Virginia, native placed fifth in the 1-meter event at ODU with a score of 142.35. She competed in the 50 (26.99) and 500 (2:51.19) freestyle events, finishing fifth in the 500. Biles also was a part of the 200-yard medley relay team that finished in 1:56.51.
Calle Biles ’20
Cadet John Reed ’19 earned the conference’s Male Diver of the Week award. The 1st Class cadet from Clifton Forge, Virginia, won both the 1-meter and 3-meter events Saturday at Old Dominion with scores of 190.2 and 177.8, respectively.
“It is fantastic to see our athletes recognized at the conference level,” said Andrew Bretscher, head coach. “Stephen had a strong meet this weekend and was able to set a new varsity record in another event, while also finishing very strongly in all this races.”
Bretscher continued, “John has been performing amazing all season and has an outstanding win record on the 1-meter. This is his first year diving, so the progress that he has made is a testament to his work ethic and the coaching by Colonel Tom Timmes [’92].
“Calle has been doing great all year in diving as well, working on learning new dives every day. The work that she puts in by doing both swimming and diving is very unique in our sport, as most athletes compete in either swimming or diving, not both.”
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This article was first published by vmikeydets.com.
