Permanent Representative to the UN, New York Leslie Christian of Ghana

Freshman Leslie Christian was named first-team All-Conference USA in the 1,650-yard freestyle, and picked up third-team honors in the 500 free.

For the season, Christian has eight individual wins, including a meet-record performance at the Giant Eagle Zips Invitational when she set a then-season low time of 17:20.

So far this season, Christian has eight individual wins, and set a meet record of 17:20,44 in the 1,650 freestyle at the Giant Eagle Zips Invitational at the University of Akron last December.

Christian said that knowing her father, who is a battalion commander in the Army, will be in such dangerous territory for a year is scary, but he describes it to me as swimming for 26 years and never getting to compete in a meet, because he's been training for so long.

Being in a military family, Christian has lived in California, Georgia, Texas, Las Vegas, Kansas, New York, Colorado and Hawai'i twice.

Christian said that she believes moving around when she was younger helped her transition to college.

Inching along an evacuation route and realizing the situation was more dire than she originally expected, Tulane junior Leslie Christian was moved to tears at the sight of signs saying "God Bless New Orleans.

Just over six weeks since that day, Christian has settled in an old computer room in a housing complex at Texas A University.