Avery Martin- Contributor
Dylan Prescher was named the NE10 swimmer of the week on Jan. 23. Exercise and sports science major Prescher, a junior, recently won the 1000-yard and 500-yard freestyle against Adelphi University.
In the 1000-yard freestyle, he recorded a time of 9:58.54. Prescher followed that up with a time of 4:55.12 in the 500. These results contributed to the Owls’ 49-45 win against Adelphi in a meet that ended their regular season.
In another recent meet against the College of Saint Rose and Assumption University, Prescher took third in the 200-yard freestyle and first in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Other recent highlights include a win in the 500-yard freestyle against Bentley University, as well as a 1000-yard freestyle win against College of Staten Island.
Prescher attributed his recent success in the pool to his training at the university.
“I’ve been training since the summer. I’ve been working hard since my freshman year, and it’s my junior year, so I’ve got three years of training here. Now, I’m starting to see that payoff,” Prescher said.
Prescher’s hard work and dedication do not go unnoticed by teammate and sports management major Nicholas Fournier, a sophomore.
“He is a very hard worker. He is a guy who pushes everybody who’s around him, including the people in his lane or the people just adjacent to his lane,” Fournier said. “He is just the definition of a hard worker in general.”
Fournier also describes Prescher as a leader and someone who encourages the team to do better.
Head Coach Tim Quill agrees. He describes Prescher as an example of what hard work can achieve and believes that he is a role model for the other athletes.
“He does well academically. He gets along with everyone,” Quill said. “I would certainly consider him to be a role model here at practice.”
Quill also notes that each passing year only improves Prescher’s performance. Given that this is Prescher’s third year with the Owls, Quill has high expectations for what he can achieve in the future.
“He’s improved dramatically. He’s had a quantum improvement since he got to Southern Connecticut,” Quill said. “He’s gone from a championship finalist type guy in his individual events to an NE10 Conference Champion.”
In last season’s NE10 Championships, Prescher took gold in the 1000-yard freestyle and mile freestyle. The men’s swimming and diving team also won the Conference Championship. He hopes to not only defend those results at the upcoming Conference Championships but also go further.
“I’d like to win my events, and I’m trying to go to NCAA’s,” Prescher said.
Quill has high hopes that Prescher will be able to achieve his individual goals.
“He should absolutely be a player again this year. He won his events last year, and we are expecting him to repeat this year,” Quill said. “He works hard towards his potential. He tends to pay attention to detail.”
For the next three weeks, Prescher and his teammates will be focused on the conference championships and defending their wins and back-to-back NE10 titles.
