Pitt freshman Female Athlete of the Year

It’s hard to adjust from high school sports to college sports. The competition is fiercer… It’s hard to adjust from high school sports to college sports. The competition is fiercer and the practices are longer and more grueling. For this reason, most freshman athletes don’t win in their first season.

For swimmer Kristin Brown, though, that wasn’t the case. Brown was an instrumental part in helping the Pitt women’s swimming and diving team end Princeton’s 47-meet win streak, and she was the only Pitt swimmer to qualify for the Big East Championships in the freestyle event. For these reasons, Brown was selected as Female Freshman Athlete of the Year by The Pitt News sports staff.

“It’s unusual to have a freshman standout like that,” swimming and diving head coach Chuck Knoles said. “She is going to be a great point-getter for us in the future. She brings all the intangibles to the table; she is a hard worker and has a desire to learn.”

Brown comes from the small town of East Berlin, Pa. She was in a graduating class of about 100. She didn’t have a swim team and had to go to other schools to compete. For that reason, Brown is more excited to be competing on a competitive team than anything else.

“My whole town could fit in Holland [Hall],” Brown said. “I’ve never had a team. I really like that it’s not just me that does anything. It’s a big personal thing if you win. It’s great. But more importantly it’s a team sport. It’s not individual.

“It’s really exciting for me to have a team. Some people miss that because they’ve had a team all their career, but I’ve never gotten to do that.”

Her teamwork shows: She is the anchor to the 400-meter freestyle relay team, a team that finished third in the Big East Championship.

As the only Pitt swimmer in the 100-yard freestyle event, Brown finished sixth in the conference, while swimming a personal best 51.57.

“I love that event,” Brown said. “It’s the last day of competition. It’s my last event. I don’t feel much pressure in that event because no matter what happens, I can do it.”

However, Brown’s best meet came early in the season when Pitt ended Princeton’s dual meet win streak, which was tops in the nation at the time. In that meet, Brown won the 100-meter freestyle event and finished in second place, just 0.7 seconds behind her teammate, Carolyn Savini, in the 200-meter freestyle.

“Coach told me during the diving break that he wanted me to swim the 100-yard freestyle,” Brown said. “He said we needed me to win it. That was a really good meet for me.”

Brown does not like to talk about her individual accomplishments — she only focuses on team goals. Pitt finished fourth in the Big East this season and finished with one of its relay teams less then a second away from qualifying for the NCAA Championships.

Next season, Brown has three goals — finish in the Top 25, finish in the top three in the Big East, and make it to the NCAA Championships.

“We beat four teams in the top 25, so that’s a big goal,” Brown said. “We want to be in the top 25.”