April 13, 2012
Contact: Tim Ertle
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Cleveland State senior Carys Behn has returned home to South Africa to participate in the 2012 South African Aquatics Championships to be held April 16-22 in her hometown of Durban. She's attempting to qualify for the opportunity to represent her country at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
A member of the winningest class in the history of the women's swimming and diving team, Behn placed in the top-three in three individual events at the 2012 Horizon League Championships to help the team place second - the best mark in program history.
The co-performer of the meet at the 2011 Horizon League Championships, Behn will graduate as the school record holder in the 100 (50.23), 200 (1:48.05) and 1,000 (10:18.76) free events while also swimming on the best 200 medley (1:41.68) and 800 free (7:26.29) relay teams in program history.
"Carys hasn't taken a break from swimming in over a year and a half with the intent of performing well at this meet and we wish her well in her quest for excellence," head coach Wally Morton said. "She is arguably one of the best women's swimmers in the history of the program and we're so proud that she is representing Cleveland State University.
I would also like to congratulate coaches Andrew Hancock and April Woo as they have done an outstanding job of making Carys better during her four years here," Morton added. "With all the hard work she put in, Carys has developed into an incredible student-athlete."
Behn is attempting to qualify in four events: the 50, 100 and 200 free in addition to the 100 fly. After converting her times to yards, Behn is in the top-11 nationally in all four races heading into competition on Monday. Heading into the meet, she's seeded fourth in the 200 free (2:03.14), sixth in the 100 free (57.36), 10th in the 100 fly (1:05.16) and 11th in the 50 free (27.06).
Away from the pool, Behn received the 12th annual John McLendon Award, which is given to the student-athlete who best represents the ideals and personal philosophy of McLendon, a former CSU men's basketball coach who is an enshrinee in the Basketball Hall of Fame.
She was the driving force behind several of the swimming and diving program's fund raising efforts for charity and was the liaison in getting the team involved in the kitchen at Trinity Cathedral.
The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee representative for the women's swimming and diving team, Behn encouraged the team to get involved in Special Olympics clinics and made an impact with Kids Kicking Cancer. She tutored disadvantaged children, taught swim lessons to children and took donations for inner-city students who didn't have proper school supplies.
Behn did all this while maintaining a 3.75 grade point average and earning Dean's List status every semester while majoring in communication.
