She is a record breaker, captain and one of the many Syracuse swimming greats. And, in her four winters at Syracuse, Elyse McDonough has etched out her place in SU history. She has re-written the SU swimming record book and controlled the waters of Webster Pool for an undergraduate generation. She has been a leader and one of the many talents to perform under swimming head coach Lou Walker.

This past weekend at the Big East Championships in Uniondale, McDonough did something she had been waiting to do for four years: become a champion. With all that the decorated senior has done, it was fitting that the champion title will now forever be linked to her name.

McDonough swam the 200-meter butterfly in a school record 1:59.61, a time that was good enough to take home her first ever Big East championship. The sub 2-minute performance has also earned McDonough consideration for the NCAA Championships at Texas A&M next month.

But when McDonough popped up out of the water, she had no idea how well she had done.

‘I didn’t know I won at first,’ McDonough said, ‘All of my teammates were crowded around me and I couldn’t see the scoreboard. When I did see it, it was kind of a shock.’

The senior from Bethlehem Central High in Delmar was a runner-up in the 200 fly last year. McDonough becomes the first woman swimmer to bring home a Big East championship since Lynnie Johnansen-North, who won the 200 freestyle in 1997. Even more impressive is that McDonough becomes the first Orangewoman to win the 200 butterfly in 20 years.

On Saturday morning, McDonough swam in the preliminary heat of the race she would later win. She finished fourth and the idea of a victory later that night was in doubt.

‘I didn’t think I’d win,’ McDonough said, ‘The girl who beat me last year finished first in the morning.’

But the four years of work paid off for the record-breaking swimmer. When she came out Saturday night the mood was different.

‘There was a lot of excitement at night,’ McDonough said. ‘I used my legs more at night, and there was a lot of anticipation to be swimming with the best eight in the conference.’

McDonough was joined this past weekend by another record-breaking champion. Luk Boral broke his own record time in the 200-meter breaststroke with 1:59.30, claiming the Big East Championship. Boral, just a freshman, broke a record he set in November. The Poland native becomes the first Orangeman champion in the event since Dave Buyze won the 200 breaststroke in 1987. The last SU champion on the men’s side was Djordje Filipovic, a graduate assistant this season.

‘I was ranked first before the meet started,’ Boral said, ‘I wanted to swim as fast as possible. I was racing against the clock.’

The Syracuse swimming and diving teams had a strong showing at the Championships. The men finished 5th and the women 7th in the race of the conference’s elite. For the women, it was their best showing in four years. The women had not finished as high as seventh since 1999.

While both teams had strong performances, the story of the meet was the champions. For Boral it was an impressive beginning to what should be a record-breaking career. For McDonough, the championship win was the icing on the cake, a closing chapter that couldn’t have been topped. Her coach was one of the first people to greet her when she exited the pool as a champion.

‘I told her how proud I was of her,’ Walker said, ‘I told her it was a great way to culminate four years of doing a great job and working so hard. She has been a great competitor and a great person.’

Published on February 23, 2004 at 12:00 pm