Jan. 29, 2008

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Clemson's Adam Farnham and Virginia Tech's Kaan Tayla and Sara Smith have been selected Atlantic Coast Conference Swimming and Diving Performers of the Week with Farnham and Tayla sharing the men's accolade. The league weekly honor is a first for Farnham and Smith this season, while Tayla receives his second recognition.

Farnham was instrumental in Clemson's 174-126 upset victory of No. 25 Florida State last Saturday, as the senior collected two individual victories and swam on two winning relay squads. He captured first place in both the 100 and 200 butterfly, with his time in the 100 fly less than one second off the NCAA "B" qualifying mark. The Mt. Berry, Ga., native also participated in two team events as the 200 medley relay won in 1:30.77 and the 400 freestyle relay unit turned in a first-place finish with a season-best time of 3:02.17.

A senior from Ankara, Turkey, Tayla broke four records, posted a pair of NCAA "B" qualifying marks, collected two team victories and notched one individual win to give Virginia Tech a solid 177-117 triumph over Pittsburgh last weekend. Tayla anchored the winning 200 medley relay squad (1:30.96) and was part of the first-place 400 free relay team that broke the pool record with a time of 3:00.21. In addition, his time as the leadoff swimmer in the 400 free relay (43.86) broke the pool record for the 100 free as well as his own school record. His times in the 50 and 100 free currently rank as the fastest in the ACC this season.

Smith, a junior from McGaheysville, Va., turned in an impressive performance in Virginia Tech's 185.5-111.5 victory versus Pittsburgh. She won three individual events, set two NCAA "B" qualifying times and anchored the winning 200 medley relay team. Smith captured first place in the 200 freestyle, finishing just .02 shy of the "B" mark. She also finished first in the 50 free with an NCAA "B" cut and season-best time of 22.89, and collected her second qualifying mark with a pool record 55.20 in the 100 fly.

Both Clemson and Virginia Tech will be wrapping up the regular season this weekend. The Clemson men will host Duke on Saturday, while the Tiger women travel to Gardner-Webb for a 1 p.m. meeting on Friday.

The Virginia Tech men face Washington and Lee on Friday before joining the women's team at Radford on Saturday.