Totten earns three medals at Southeast Asian Games

NAKHON RATCHASIMA, THAILAND – University of Arkansas freshman swimmer Erica Totten won three medals representing the Philippines at the Southeast Asian Games in Thailand on Tuesday. The Miami, Fla., native earned a silver medal and broke the Philippians’ national record in the 200-meter butterfly with a personal-best time of 2:16.79. Totten took bronze medals in the 200-meter freestyle and the 4×100 free relay. Head coach Jeff Poppell was in Thailand with Totten and was extremely pleased with her accomplishments. “Erica had a phenomenal meet coming away with a silver medal and two bronze,” said Poppell. “Her time in the 200-meter butterfly shattered her previous best time and narrowly missed qualifying for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She was just one second off of an NCAA ‘A’ cut as well. With her time, she has a chance to get picked up for the NCAA Championships.” Totten’s times in the 200 free and the 200 fly were both NCAA ‘B’ cut times. Converted to short-course yards, Totten’s 200-free time was also the fastest this season of any Lady Razorback. Her 200-fly time was second to school-record holder Katie Kastes. The Southeast Asian Games is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The Games are under regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with supervision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Olympic Council of Asia. The swimming competition took place over the course of five days. Totten has another opportunity to qualify for the 2008 Olympics in June. For more information about Arkansas swimming and diving, please log on to LADYBACKS.COM.