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News Release

Force 3 UMBC Athlete of the Week: Justin Bronson

11/7/2006


Force 3 UMBC Athlete of the Week: Justin Bronson

 

Name: Justin Bronson

Sport/Position: Men’s Swimming and Diving/Free and Fly

Hometown/High School: Oshawa, Ontario, Canada/MSGR. Paul Dwyer

Last Week: 1st place in 200-yard freestyle (1:41.23), 1st place in 100-yard freestyle (47.04), Part of 1st place 400 freestyle relay (3:12.10) against Binghamton (11/4); Part of 1st place 200-yard medley relay (1:36.67), 1st place in 200-yard butterfly (1:55.68), 1st place in 500-yard freestyle (4:43.42), 3rd place in 400-yard freestyle relay (3:18.05) against Colgate (11/5).

Retrievers Last Week: 2-0—Won against Binghamton, 141.5-99.5 (11/4); Won against Colgate, 166-108 (11/5).

 

Justin Bronson went his fastest 200 freestyle time in his dual meet career on Saturday to win the event against Binghamton.  Bronson is undefeated in individual competition, garnering eight victories so far this season, earning him the title of Force 3 UMBC Athlete of the Week.

 

Bronson, an Oshawa, Ontario native, is only in his sophomore season at UMBC but is already making waves in the America East Conference as he is the AEC defending champion in the 500 freestyle and runner-up in the 100 and 200 freestyles. 

 

“[Bronson] has really matured as swimmer this year,” said head coach Chad Cradock.  “Last year he struggled to finish and to get his hand into the wall first, but this year he’s already proven that he can hold on to the race.  Navy is a prime example with him going into the last 25 behind and out-touching the swimmer next to him.  Last year he was getting out-touched.”

 

“My technique has improved a lot,” said Bronson, “I have a good finish in my races [this year] and I’m swimming faster than last year.  I just try to keep myself relaxed and more excited before my races.  Calm, but ready.”

 

Bronson has been ready every race so far this season and is unparalleled in dual meet performance this season, boasting wins in five different events for eight total individual wins, including two at the aforementioned Navy meet.  This past weekend, Bronson dropped a full second from his previous dual meet best time of 1:42.24 in the 200 freestyle to go 1:41.23, and 5.5 seconds from his previous best time of 2:01.11 in the 200 butterfly to go 1:55.68. 

 

Last weekend was only the second time Bronson has swam the 200 butterfly event while at UMBC, but Cradock knows that if the team needs a win, Bronson is the go-to-guy.  “We know we can count on him to pull out the win for our relays and for individual events.  He’s become much more confident this year, where last year he was outwardly confident, this year that confidence shows in his performance.”

 

Bronson also has confidence in his goals for the end of the year—to take down two UMBC records.  “[I see him] taking down a record that has stood for a long time,” said Cradock.  The record in question is Cradock’s own, a mark of 4:28.62 in the 500 freestyle, set back in 1996.  Bronson narrowly missed the record last year, recording a time of 4:28.79 at the conference championships. 

 

Looking past this season, Bronson aspires to go the Canadian Olympic Trials and hopes to qualify for a relay team that will be going to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  “The possibilities are endless,” said Cradock.  “As a coach I’m excited to watch him grow and develop as a swimmer.

 

Bronson will look to keep his win streak up this weekend when he and the rest of the Retrievers travel to cross-town rival Towson on Saturday at 1 p.m.