Barbins Named to ASCA Awards of Excellence List

Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. - Andre Barbins, the head men's and women's swimming coach at St. Mary's College of Maryland, has been recognized by the American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) by being named to its 2009 Awards of Excellence List.  The ASCA annually recognizes those coaches who have guided a swimmer to a top-eight finish at one of several USA national level championships. 

The meets used for this year's list were: the 2008 USA Short Course National Championships, the 2009 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships (Division I, II, and III) and the 2009 USA World Championship Trials.

Barbins helped direct Brie McDowell '09 (Wilton, Conn./Hatboro-Horsham [Pa.]) to an All-America performance in the 200-yard backstroke at this year's NCAA Championship meet that was held at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities as McDowell finished fourth.  McDowell also notched two honorable mention All-America efforts at that meet in the 100 backstroke and the 200 individual medley.

The 2009 Capital Athletic Conference Women's Swimming Coach of the Year, Barbins oversaw a Seahawk women's squad that earned the distinction of Scholar All-America team by the Collegiate Swim Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) this past summer.  The women were one of 82 NCAA Division III schools recognized for the spring 2009 semester.

Barbins, who is in his 12th year at the helm of the Seahawks, also mentored McDowell to a 2009 CSCAA Scholar All-America citation, while Eleanor Koerner '09 (North Potomac, Md./T.S. Wootton), Sofia Sokolove '11 (Bethesda, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase) and Arielle Webster '11 (Jarrettsville, Md./North Harford) were named honorable mention Scholar All-Americans.

During the 2006-07 campaign, Barbins guided McDowell, the 2007 and 2009 CAC Women's Swimmer of the Year, to the NCAA Championships where she went on to earn the program's first-ever honorable mention All-America honors in the 100 and 200 backstroke events.