DENVER - Grand Canyon's Mark Nikolaev and Mike Bidak have been named Western Athletic Conference Swimmer and Diver of the week, respectively, for Dec 28-Jan 3.
Nikolaev, a freshman from Seltso, Russia (Seltsovkaya) 200 IM time had a CollegeSwimmimg.com performance score of 782.0 - the top score in the WAC this week for the men. It is an NCAA B Cut and is the 2nd fastest in the WAC this season. It was also a UC San Diego pool record. The freshman also set another UCSD pool record in the 100 back with a time of 49.14 and was part of the 1st place 200-medley relay, which set another UCSD pool record.
Bidak, a senior from Scottsdale, Ariz. (Horizon) won both the 1-meter and 3-meter with scores of 318.80 and 338.00. Bidak's wins were crucial to beating UCSD. Had he not done so, Grand Canyon would not have beat them. His 3-meter score was also a team record.
Other swimmer nominees: Air Force Academy's Michael Barnosky won both the 50 meter and 100 meter breast stroke at the Orange Bowl Classic in Key Largo, Fla. Barnsoky set a new meet record in the 50 meter with a time of 27.78 seconds. The senior also swam a leg of the 200 meter medley relay team that won with a time of 1:40.02. He helped lead the team to a second place finish in the tournament.