Sports
Ohio Swimming Senior Profile: Laura Dawson
By: Ryan Lewis
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Laura Dawson will be competing in her final Mid-American Conference swimming championships this weekend. She is one of four seniors that led a very young Bobcats swim team this year. She is also one of the most decorated Ohio University swimmers ever.
Before setting school records at the Aquatic Center, Dawson attended the University of Kentucky where she swam on a co-ed team and trained with the men. While at UK, she made the Dean’s List and was an Academic All-American. She then took a year off and returned home to England before coming to swim at Ohio University for three years.
Those three years were spent consistently at the top of the fastest times of the year. During her first season with the Bobcats she broke the school record in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:58.13 at the MAC Championships, where she took first. That was not the only first place or school record event for her during her first MAC Championships with a time of 1:55.23 in the 200-yard backstroke. Her 200-yard medley relay also set the school record that year with a 1:39.71.
Her second season was just as exciting as her first as she took first place a total of 16 times. Seven times she took first in the 200 back, her best event. Her fastest time in the 200 back was a second-place finish at the MACs with a time of 1:56.70, just 1.47 seconds off her personal bets and school record. By the end of the season she was named Academic All-MAC and was named Second Team All-MAC.
Her senior season was not what she was hoping for time wise due to a few minor injuries but she is still at the top of the lists for fastest times this season in multiple events. She has four of the top five times in the 100 back and has the six fastest times in the 200 back. Dawson has also been a part of the four fastest 400 medley relays and the fastest 200 free relay.
When it’s all said and done and Laura Dawson leaves Ohio University swimming she will certainly be one of the most decorated ever. She has top-10 times in nine events and her name will be on the school record board in the Aquatic Center in three separate events.