Fresno State Athletics
Bulldog Swimmer Wins Big in Norway
7/30/2010 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
July 30, 2010
FRESNO, Calif. - Heidi Gjoen, an outstanding swimmer for the Bulldogs, made a splash at the Norwegian Long Course National championships.
The native of Oslo, Norway traveled home to train and compete for part of the summer. The junior, who chose to attend Fresno State because of the athletics, great school spirit and the business program, is now part of two relay teams that both broke national records.
Gjoen competed on the 400 medley relay and the 800 free relay teams. Both made history by breaking the previous national records.
"It was great to be on two relay teams that set the national records. The 800 freestyle relay record was almost 20 years old, so to be on the team that finally broke it is big," Gjoen commented.
Heidi also swam the 200 backstroke and won her country's national championship in that event.
"Winning the 200 backstroke was fun. Especially because I don't practice or compete in Norway during the school year, it's special to come home and win an event," she said.
She additionally competed in the 100 backstroke, where she made personal improvements.
"I broke my personal record by 1.3 seconds," she said. " This is a great improvement for me from last season and it felt so good to do well at nationals. It makes me ready to start up next season."
Head coach Jeanne Fleck was also proud of her swimmer.
"I am excited that Heidi broke two national relay records," Fleck said." She is a part of two Norwegian national records and that is a big deal. She was the runner-up in the 100 backstroke and dropped almost a second and a half in time. I am very happy with her performance."
Heidi Gjoen has established herself as one of the WAC's elite backstroke competitors. Last year at the WAC Championships, she finished fifth in the 100 backstroke (57.25) and 10th in the 200 backstroke (2:04.91). Gjoen is a team leader and was voted the team MVP swimmer. She accumulated a total of eight individual event wins and finished second in both the 100 (1:00.16) and 200 backstroke (2:11.40) events against defending National Champion Cal. Gjoen has also earned academic All-WAC honors for two consecutive season.
"We Are Your Team!" The Fresno State swimming and diving team will be back to start school at the end of August. They will officially start practice towards the end of September and the season competitions will kick-off in October. Stay updated with the Pool Construction and more news at gobulldogs.com.
