Woman of the Year award for assistant swimming coach
SPORTS | Laura Barito, a graduate student and volunteer assistant coach with UD’s swimming and diving program, has been named the 2011 NCAA Woman of the Year, one of the highest honors in college athletics, for her student-athlete accomplishments at Stevens Institute of Technology.
While an undergraduate in mechanical engineering at Stevens, she was a 22-time All-American in swimming and track and a two-time NCAA national champion.
Barito currently is pursuing a doctorate in mechanical engineering and biomechanics at UD and was awarded the Helwig Mechanical Engineering Fellowship, established in 2009 by David R. Helwig, EG73, and Constance A. Helwig, BE73, to support deserving graduate students. Barito also serves as an assistant coach for head coach John Hayman and is training for national competition.
“We are excited to have Laura Barito on our staff,” Hayman says. “Her energy and drive to be the best is a perfect example of what we are looking for in our swimmers. Even though Laura has only been with us for a few months, our student-athletes have benefited from her expertise in the swimming field.”
In her first year of graduate school research, Barito is working on projects that involve the knees, including knee replacements and knee implants.
The Woman of the Year award honors female student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in academic achievement, athletic excellence, community service and leadership. Among the nominees for the award this year was UD All-American volleyball player Greta Gibboney, AS11.
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