The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net ARIANNA Vanderpool-Wallace closed out a chapter of her collegiate experience with three titles and a third place finish at the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Swimming and Diving Championships over the weekend. While the Bahamian Olympian repeated as the fastest female swimmer in the SEC with the fastest time in the 50-yard freestyle in the US this year on Thursday, she had to settle for a third place finish in the 100 butterfly on Friday. The Auburn University Tigers senior's time of 21.35 seconds in the 50 free was an automatic time for the NCAA Championships, while her time of 52.08 was a B qualifier. Vanderpool-Wallace, who turns 22 on March 4, also swum the first legs on both the Tigers' 200 and 400 freestyle relays that pulled off victories in 1:28.32 and 3:12.85 respectively. Both times were automatic qualifiers for the NCAA Championships. In the process, Vanderpool's lead off split broke her own SEC and NCAA record in the 100 freestyle with a time of 46.61, shaving .20 off her time from last year's SEC meet. "I had a lot of emotion going into that race," Vanderpool-Wallace was quoted as saying on Auburn's website after the performance. "I just wanted to go out and get the women into open water. That and the emotion led to breaking the record. It's awesome and I know I can go faster. This year is about getting everything right and going faster at NCAAs." Vanderpool-Wallace has broken the NCAA and US Open record in the 100 freestyle at two straight SEC Championships. She swam 46.81 in Gainesville last year, then went 46.61 on the leadoff leg of the relay on Saturday. However, Vanderpool-Wallace had one bad outing at the championships in the 400 medley relay when the Tigers got disqualified. Vanderpool-Wallace swum the anchor leg. Vanderpool-Wallace, the captain of the Tigers women's swim team, has ended her SEC appearances with a total of 13 titles. She was last year's SEC Women's Swimmer of the Year. Having made history last year at the FINA World Championships in Shanghai, China, where she was the first Bahamian to make it to the final, Vanderpool-Wallace is now gearing up to defend her 50 and 100 free titles at the NCAA Championships, scheduled for March 15-17 in Auburn. When she brings the curtain down on her NCAA career, she will switch her attention to the Bahamas Swimming Federation's Royal Bank of Canada Nationals in June at the Betty Kelly Kenning Aquatic Center and then the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, England, in July.