Canterbury swimmer impresses at US College meet

Canterbury swimmer Matthew Hutchins has been making waves in the Big Ten Conference for Wisconsin University where he is on scholarship.

Hutchins was named the men’s Big Ten Swimmer of the Week after winning two events, setting a personal best record and leading the Wisconsin men in their dual meet victory over Minnesota last week.

It was the first time his university had won against Minnesota in more than a decade.

The 20 year old was first in the 1000 and 500 yard freestyle in 9:07.66 and 4:24.81 respectively.

His time in the 500 yard was a NCAA provisional qualifying mark and his personal best time in the 1000 yard ranked him number two on USA Swimming’s NCAA Division I Top Times.

Hutchins also came fourth in the 200 yard individual medley (1:53.33) while helping the Wisconsin men remain undefeated for the season (3-0) so far.

Last year Hutchins represented New Zealand at the World University Games. He was also part of the Trans-Tasman team in 2012 and 2010 and was on the Youth Commonwealth Games team in 2011.