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24 Facts About Kelly Hecking

1.

Kelly Hecking is the most successful Notre Dame Fighting Irish athlete in any sport at the Big East Conference Championships with 19 event conference championships and four team conference championships.

2.

Kelly Hecking was the only Notre Dame swimmer to win an individual event four times at the Big East Championship.

3.

Kelly Hecking was an eight-time NCAA All-American honorable mention.

4.

Kelly Hecking was a two-time high school All-American and two-time New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association 100 yard backstroke champion.

5.

Kelly Hecking is a 3-time YMCA Nationals backstroke champion and 9-time YMCA Nationals backstroke medalist.

6.

Kelly Hecking grew up with a pool in her backyard, and her mother signed her up for swim lessons as a precaution.

7.

Kelly Hecking won the 100 and 200 yard freestyle events at the 1997 NNJISL.

8.

Kelly Hecking finished second in the March 1998 NJSIAA Meet of Champions in the 50 yard freestyle, and she won the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly in the 1998 NNJISL league championship meet.

9.

Kelly Hecking won in the NJSIAA 100 backstroke again as a senior in 1998 without bettering her record time.

10.

Kelly Hecking was a two-time high school All-American and two-time New Jersey state champion who chose University of Notre Dame over University of Arizona, Ohio State University and Penn State University because Notre Dame needed a backstroker.

11.

Kelly Hecking accepted her nearly full scholarship from Notre Dame in March 1998 for the following fall.

12.

Kelly Hecking set a NNJISL record in the 200 yard individual medley that was broken in 2000 by Erin Vanderberg.

13.

Kelly Hecking had placed 4th, 12th and 11th, respectively, in the 50-, 100- and 200-meter backstrokes in the 1995 National YMCA Long course championship.

14.

Kelly Hecking had placed 14th and 19th at the 1995 short course YMCA Nationals.

15.

Kelly Hecking did not return to the YMCA Long Course Championship in 1997 in backstroke events, and Montclair was represented by Lisa Dolansky in the backstroke events in 1998.

16.

Kelly Hecking became the eighth woman in the history of the Big East conference swimming and diving championship to win the same event four years in a row in 2002.

17.

Kelly Hecking was the only Notre Dame swimmer to win an individual event four times at the Big East Championship.

18.

Kelly Hecking is the most successful Notre Dame Fighting Irish athlete in any sport at the Big East Championships.

19.

Kelly Hecking earned 19 Big East Championships during her career : seven individual championships as well as a dozen relay championships as a member of 4 Big East Championship teams.

20.

Kelly Hecking became the winningest swimmer in Big East Conference history after accumulating 14 career Big East Championships during her junior year.

21.

Kelly Hecking posted her career best time of 1:57.45 in the 200 yard backstroke at the 2002 National Collegiate Championships earning her a 12th place finish and her second individual All-American honorable mention.

22.

Kelly Hecking held the 100 yard Notre Dame record from 2001 until 2003 when Danielle Hulick surpassed it in the 2003 Big East Championships breaking Hecking's Big East Championship record in the process.

23.

Kelly Hecking qualified for the National Collegiate Athletic Association championships in both the 100- and 200-yard backstroke as well as several relays all four years of eligibility and was an 8-time NCAA All-American honorable mention: twice as an individual and six times as a relay participant.

24.

Kelly Hecking was named a Big East Academic All-star in both 2001 and 2002.