Costin Beats Previous Best; Captures All-American Honors

Turning in the best performances of her career, RoAnn Costin swam to All-American honors in the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) National swim meet at the University of Idaho last week.

Costin, a junior, placed eleventh in both the 200-yd. and 400-yd. freestyle after being seeded 33rd and 23rd in the events respectively. All-American status is awarded to finishers in the top sixteen places.

The University of Arizona won the meet, topping 81 teams which included eight Olympic record holders.

Swimming at a pace three seconds faster than her previous collegiate best, Costin swam the 200-yd. freestyle in 2:03.6. Cathy Corcione, who swam in the 1964 and 1968 Olympics, took first in the event with a time of 1:57.

Costin continued her sterling performance by placing eleventh in the 400-yd. freestyle in 4:24.1, a whopping six seconds off her personal best.

Alice McCabe, Radcliffe swimming coach, said, "We thought that RoAnn would finish in the top sixteen in the 400, but we were really surprised and happy about the 200."

Sophomore Nancy Sato and Junior Connie Cervilla also qualified for the national meet. "We took Nancy so she could complete her list of dives and to give her experience at this level," McCabe said.

Sato placed 23rd in the 1-meter dive while Cervilla, plagued by a cold throughout the meet, failed to perform up to her qualifying times in her event, the 50-yd. butterfly.

McCabe said that she thought the location of the meet might have affected her contingent's performace somewhat. "If it hadn't been so far away and the trip so long, I think we would have done even better," she said.