LSU Record Holder in the 200 and 400 Freestyle Relay and 200 Medley Relay
U.S. Olympic Trials’ Qualifier
2007 NCAA Honorable Mention All-American (200 and 400 Freestyle Relays)
2007 SEC Academic Honor Roll
2006 U.S. Spring National Championships Participant
2006 NCAA Honorable Mention All-American (200 Freestyle Relay)
2006 SEC Swimmer of the Week (Feb. 7)
2006 SEC Academic Honor Roll
2005 U.S. World Championships Trials’ Participant
2005 SEC Academic Honor Roll
2004 SEC Freshman Academic Honor Roll
SENIOR SEASON (2006-07)
Helped lead the team to its highest finish since 2001 with 17th place and was a member of two NCAA All-American and school record relays in the 200 and 400 freestyle … Named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll … Shattered the school record in the 400 free relay for the second straight season … Swam a mark of 3:17.92 in the prelims at the NCAA Championships to break the mark by five seconds … Secured honorable mention All-America status with a fifth-place finish in the consolation final (13th overall) in a time of 3:18.78 … Won the 200 free relay consolation final at NCAAs and earned her third All-America honor in a school-record mark of 1:30.57 … Time placed as ninth overall and broke the school record by two seconds … Posted the fourth-fastest 100 free time in school history with a career-best 50.17 in a 42nd-place finish at NCAAs … Finished 38th in the 50 free at NCAAs with in a career-fast 23.00 … Earned her fourth varsity letter.
JUNIOR SEASON (2005-06)
One of LSU’s best performers who became the school record holder in the 50 freestyle (23.04) … A consistent swimmer and team leader who was a member of the squad’s record-setting 200 and 400 free relay at the NCAA Championships … Joined Katherine Noland, Katie Gilmore and Heather Brand to shatter a 13-year-old school record in the 400 free relay at NCAAs (3:22.31) … Group also earned All-America honors in the 200 free relay, placing 11th overall (1:31.59) … Notched the fourth-fastest time in school history in the 100 free at NCAAs, finishing 39th in the prelims (50.42) … LSU’s highest finisher in the 50 free at NCAAs, placing 45th in the prelims (23.24) … Part of 200 free relay team that set school record with a third-place finish at the SEC Championships (1:31.10) … Reached the consolation final of the 50 free at SECs and finished fourth (10th overall) with a time of 23.41 … Shattered the school record in the prelims of that event with a career-best time of 23.04 … Placed 20th in the 100 fly (56.63) … Named SEC Female Swimmer of the Week on Feb. 7 after winning all three events she swam in against Tulane … Became LSU’s first SEC Female Swimmer of the Week since Mandy Leach captured the award on Jan. 2, 2002 … Swam a mark of 22.19 as part of the 200 free relay’s pool-record time of 1:31.52 against the Green Wave … The clocking was at the time the fastest in the SEC and broke a school record set in 1993 … Also won the 50 free and 400 medley relay versus Tulane … Participated in the 100-meter butterfly and 50-meter free at the U.S. Spring National Championships in March … Owned top-three times in the 100 fly and 200 IM … Named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll for the third straight season … Earned her third varsity letter.
SOPHOMORE SEASON (2004-05)
Proved to be one of the top freestyle swimmers on the squad, posting two all-time top 10 times … Represented LSU at the U.S. World Championship Trials in the 50 free … Rated among the nation’s best sprinters in the 50 free with a season high time of 23.27 at the Last Chance Meet … The time was recorded as the third-fastest mark in school history and shattered her career-best time of 23.64 set in 2004 … Also set a team-high time of 50.78 in the 100 free at the SEC Championships … That time ranked as the fourth-best mark in school history … Teamed with Lindsay Staak, Lauren Harvey and Heather Brand to shatter the school record in the 200 medley relay at the Bulldog Invitational (142.15) … Anchored the finish of that race with an incredible 22.35 pace … The group also set an LSU Natatorium record and “B” cut time in the 200 medley relay versus Delta State and UL-Monroe (1:42.72) … Qualified and placed eighth (16th overall) in the 50 free consolation final at SECs (23.32) … Made the SEC Academic Honor Roll for the second consecutive season … Earned her second varsity letter.
FRESHMAN SEASON (2003-04)
The top freshman on the squad in 2003-04 … Posted five times in the top three of each category on the season … Swam the fastest time by any Lady Tiger all season in the 50 freestyle, 23.64, at the SEC Championships … Time earned her 20th place out of 51 swimmers in the 50 free prelims at SECs, the highest finish by any LSU swimmer … The time also was the seventh-best mark in school history … Was also the Lady Tigers’ best scorer in the 100 free, placing 26th (51.92) … Had the second-fastest times on the season in the 50 backstroke (27.82), 100 back (59.25) and 100 butterfly (57.06) … Named to the SEC Freshman Academic Honor Roll … Earned her first varsity letter.
PRIOR TO LSU
Excellent sprint freestyle swimmer … Four-year letterwinner at Clark High School in San Antonio, Texas … Three-time 50 and 100 free All-American … District and school record-holder in the 100 free and 100 backstroke … Finished fourth in the 50 free at the Texas State High School Championships … Three-time all-state selection in the 50 and 100 free, 200 and 400 free relays and 200 medley relay … Team captain … Three-year Academic All-American … Member of the National Honor Society.
PERSONAL
Born April 25, 1985 … Parents are Michael and Celeste Bertirotti … Has one sister, Erica … Majoring in elementary education.
COLLEEN’S TOP TIMES
50 freestyle :23.00 2007 NCAA Championships
100 freestyle :50.17 2007 NCAA Championships
100 butterfly :56.37 2007 SEC Championships