Nancy Dryden '87 was named Forester Athlete of the Week on Thursday for posting NCAA Division III Championship Meet qualifying times in five individual events at the Illinois Intercollegiate Championships January 23-24, 1987, at the College of DuPage.
Dryden won each of her three individual events, touching the wall first in the 500 freestyle in 5:13.67, 200 freestyle in 1:58.29, and 200 butterfly in 2:13.19, faster than any time in the previous 13 years of the meet. As an exhibition participant in two other events, her 1:00.85 in the prelims of the 100 butterfly was the best time in the field and her 18:18.72 in the 1650 freestyle would have been good for second place behind teammate Ann Marie Guglielmi. Dryden and Guglielmi also contributed to victories in the 400 and 800 freestyle relays as the Forester women placed second in the team standings, just one point behind Augustana College.
Five weeks later the Lake Forest men and women recorded the first of three conference championship sweeps in program history. Dryden set a championship meet record in the 500 freestyle and helped establish another in the 800 freestyle relay. She also won the 200 freestyle and both butterfly events and contributed to an additional title in the 400 medley relay.
The Forester women went on to place 10th at the NCAA Division III Championships in Canton, Ohio, two weeks later. Dryden finished off her career with a stellar performance, finishing third in the country in both butterfly events, fifth in the 500 freestyle, and 12th in the 200 freestyle. In addition, she helped Lake Forest place seventh in the 800 freestyle relay.
Dryden graduated with school records in four individual events and still ranks among the top five in program history in three of them. Her time of 58.71 seconds in the 100 butterfly was easily the program's oldest record until Susan Guo and Violet Anderson broke it during the 2019-20 season.
She was inducted into the Lake Forest College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002.
Nancy Dryden Tatsuguchi '87 Hall of Fame Bio | Forester Swimming & Diving History
Until sports resume at Lake Forest College, the Athletic Department is utilizing its archives to continue the weekly recognition of high-level performances by Foresters. The department has selected a Forester Athlete of the Week since 1996, so these individuals will have earned this recognition by their performance at least 25 years ago.
A note of gratitude goes out to Mike Dau '58, whose tireless efforts as the department's historian has made the Forester Athlete of the Week research possible.
