June 9, 2011
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State Head Swimming Coach Mike Shrader has announced the addition of a pair of athletes for the 2011-12 season. That duo includes Emilie Pleger from Yakima, Wash. (Eisenhower HS) and Gemma Johnson from Sydney, Australia (Sydney University).
Pleger is a 100 breaststroke specialist who was the top-ranked swimmer in that event in the state of Washington as a prep senior. Her best time of 1:03.81 gave her a second-place finish at the 2010 state 4A championship meet as she was named a National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association (NISCA) All-American.
Pleger was named a WIAA/Seattle Times Athlete of the Week last season when she originally set an all-time Yakima Valley and Eisenhower school record in the 100 breast with a mark of 1:05.20. She also competes as a member of the Yakima YMCA and is currently ranked as the No. 16 swimmer in Washington by collegeswimming.com.
Johnson, primarily a sprint butterfly and freestyle swimmer, is a transfer from Sydney University where she was a member of the school's swim club. She recorded personal bests in the 100 fly (53.86) and 50 free (23.75) at the Texas Invitational last December and had an eight-place finish in the 100 fly.
She has also turned in career best marks of 27.02 in the 50 fly SCM, 1:00.40 in the 100 fly SCM and 25.83 in the 50 free SCM. In Australia she won the 50m fly at the 2010 NSW State Open and was also a member of the 400m free relay squad that finished third. She has been ranked among the national top 25 short course swimmers in her home country in the 50m free along with the 50m and 100m fly.
These two swimmers join SDSU's fall recruiting class made up of Chelsea Bailey (Maple Valley, Wash./Kentlake HS), Amanda Barrett (Sandy, Utah/Brighton HS), Taylor Lakey (Beaverton, Ore./Southridge HS), Dana Michaels (Seattle, Wash./Shorewood HS) and Loren Whitfield (Clovis, Calif./Clovis East HS).The seven athletes comprise another stellar recruiting class for fourth-year head coach Mike Shrader and the Aztec swimming and diving team.
The 2010-11 Aztec squad captured the school's first-ever Mountain West Conference regular-season and league meet championships while completing its season with a perfect 19-0 dual meet record.