Jan. 9, 2008

LAS VEGAS - UNLV senior Johan Claar was named Mountain West Conference Men's Swimmer of the Week it was announced on Wednesday by the league. It's the first honor of the season for Claar, and the fifth in his career.

Claar, a senior from Bankeryd, Sweden, was a big factor in leading the Rebel men to a first place showing in the UC Irvine Distance Invitational on Jan. 5, as he won the 1000 free in a meet record time of 9:12.52, which broke his previous meet record and is the fastest time in the conference this season. He then added a third-place swim in the 500 free. That same day in the UC Irvine Sprint Invitational, Claar won the 200 free, again breaking his own meet record, by turning in a time of 1:41.48.