sports

Panamanian athlete Eileen Coparropa, swimming for Auburn University in the recent NCAA women's swimming and diving championships, won gold as part of the 400-meter freestyle relay quartet, silver with the 200-meter freestyle relay and two individual bronze medals in the 50-meter and 100-meter free.

That's good enough to make Coparropa an All-American again, and was part of a resounding Auburn victory that made the women's team national champs for the second consecutive year. The second-place team, Georgia, finished 163 points behind.

Coparropa, a junior who specializes in freestyle sprints and carried the Panamanian flag at the last two Olympiads, lost her Auburn school record in the 100-meter free to teammate Becky Short at the national meet. That may not be the end of the story, however, because both swimmers will be back next year and between Short and Coparropa that record changed hands four times over the past two seasons.

With the top-notch coaching that she has been receiving at Auburn, Coparropa's times have been steadily improving, and at the NCAA meet itself she advanced from eighth place in the preliminary heats to third place by the time that the 100-event was over.