The Justice

Hollis Viray '10 poses for the camera. Photo by Sara Brandenburg/the Justice

Though she has been an integral part of the current women's swimming team since she stepped on campus two years ago, Hollis Viray '10 is now also a part of the team's history after setting a school record in the 400-yard individual medley event in last Wednesday's victory at Clark University.

"That was great. It was a huge thing for her," head coach James Zotz said. "It was something we thought was in her range, and was really a great challenge."

With her performance, Viray also earned an Eastern College Athletic Conference "A" cut, an accomplishment that puts her in a good position for the season-ending tournament.

As a rookie last season, Viray won 10 individual events, but only two of those came after winter break. This season, however, Viray has emerged as one of the Judges' most consistent swimmers, with 14 individual event wins already.

Most importantly, Viray has become a much more versatile swimmer. Prior to setting the record, Viray was polishing off the field in the 1,000-yard freestyle, an event she participated in just once last season.

"It's been fun trying her out in freestyle events where she's been swimming very well, whereas last year she was a breastroker and individual medley swimmer," Zotz said. "Spreading her out has varied her training methods and enabled her to see how good she could be in some of these other events, [and] it makes a big difference in her familiar events as well."

Viray attributes her improvement to her adjustment to the college level.

"It was definitely hard to transition [into college swimming] because we spend a lot more hours training in college, and the season is longer than it was in high school," Viray said, "But overall this year I'm doing a lot better because I know my way around the pool and know how I work best."

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