March 27, 2007

MELBOURNE, Australia - Flavia Rigamonti took the silver medal in the 1500 free event with a time of 15:55.38 at the 12th FINA World Championship that is being held in Melbourne, Australia, this week.

En route to slipping under the 16-minute mark, she broke the Swiss record by nine seconds and a four-year old European record. She tallied the first medal for the Swiss at the championships this year.

"We are thrilled for Flavia as she has established herself as one of the greatest swimmers of all time with this achievement," said SMU women's head coach, Steve Collins and Rigamonti's trainer. "This is one of the most significant achievements in the history of our program."

Rigamonti swam for the Mustangs from 2001-06 and was a five-time NCAA Champion, winning both the 500 free and 1650 free in 2002, repeating the feat in 2003, and winning the 1,650 free again in 2005. She was the 2006 Conference USA Swimmer of the Year and is currently serving as a student assistant for the squad.