Biography
2018-19: NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: Was a six-time All-American (three First Team Relays, one First Team, and two Honorable Mentions) ... was the national champion in the 100 breast (52.24) after swimming the event in 53.17 during prelims ... assisted WSU to second-place finishes in the 200 medley relay (1:25.23), in the 200 free relay (1:18.79), and in the 400 medley relay (3:10.24) ... placed 14th in the 50 free (20.19) ... finished the 200 breast in 15th place (2:01.28) after completing the event in 1:59.94 during prelims. GLIAC CHAMPIONSHIPS: Was a six-time All-GLIAC swimmer (four First Team and two Second Team) ... broke the overall GLIAC record and the Cleveland State pool record in the 100 breast (A-cut time of 52.26) ... notched a victory in the 200 breast (B-cut time of 1:57.81) ... helped WSU break the GLIAC Meet records and the Cleveland State pool records in the 200 medley relay (B-cut time of 1:26.28) and in the 400 medley relay (B-cut time of 3:11.26) ... earned a second-place finish in the 50 free (B-cut time of 20.21) ... assisted the Warriors to a second-place finish in the 200 free relay (B-cut time of 1:20.26) ... was the runner-up in the "B" finals of the 100 free (B-cut time of 45.37). SEASON: Named GLIAC Swimming Athlete of the Week on Jan. 7 ... participated in all nine meets ... competed in the winning quartet of the 400 medley relay (3:21.75) in the season-opener against Tiffin (10/19) … earned NCAA B Standards with his first-place wins in the 100 breast (54.91) and with his teammates in the 200 medley relay (1:29.06) at DI Oakland University (10/26) … also notched a win in the 50 breast (25.03) and the 200 free relay quartet (1:22.45) … claimed the top spot in the 100 free (45.87), and was a member of the winning 200 medley relay quartet (1:30.35) vs. Ashland (11/10) … notched a victory in the 100 free (46.20) versus Calvin (11/16) … also claimed the top spot and broke the WSU pool record with the winning quartet of the 200 medley relay (1:29.35) against the Knights … earned a victory in the 200 free relay (B-cut time of 1:20.52) at day one of the Denison Invite (11/29) … set a pool record at day two of the Denison Invite (11/30) after swimming the 100 breast in 53.72 and participating in the 200 medley relay (1:27.00), which both made the B-cut standard … finished the 100 free in second place (B-cut time of 44.65) and helped the 400 free relay quartet to a third-place finish (B-cut time of 2:58.95) at day three of the Denison Invite (12/1) … broke three GVSU (1/5) pool records after notching victories in the 100 breast (54.89), 400 medley relay (3:20.16), and 400 free relay (3:04.70) … also claimed the top spot in the 100 free (45.88) at Grand Valley State … won the 100 breast in a B-cut qualifying time of 54.31 at Saginaw Valley State (1/11), while also finishing first in the 200 breast (2:04.36) and participating in the winning quartet of the 200 medley relay (1:30.11) … broke WSU pool records in the 100 breast (B-cut time of 54.87), 400 medley relay (3:18.36), and 400 free relay (3:02.87) vs. Findlay (1/18), while also notching a victory in the 50 breast (24.80).
2017-18: NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: Competed in six events, earning three All-American honors and one Honorable mention ... placed eighth in the 100 breast (54.23) ... helped the 200 medley relay (1:27.26) and 400 medley relay (3:13.09) to fourth place finishes ... earned Honorable Mention All-American in the 200 free relay, finishing 12th (1:21.28). GLIAC CHAMPIONSHIPS: Helped the 200 medley relay to an All-GLIAC First Place finish of 1:27.48, setting a Jenison pool record and earning an NCAA B-cut ... swam in the 400 medley relay, earning a first place B-cut time of 3:14.57 ... raced to a second place finish in the 100 breast (54.09), earning a B-cut ... competed in the 200 free relay, which claimed second place (1:21.10) and an NCAA B-cut ... helped the 400 relay to second place (3:00.44) ... finished fifth in the 50 free (20.68) and the 2000 breast (2:01.60), earning an NCAA B-cut time in the 50 free. SEASON: Swam in all eight meets ... competed against Oakland (10/27) and was a member of the first place 200 medley relay (1:31.47), individually taking second in the 100 breast (56.54) and second in the 200 breast (2:08.96) ... helped the 200 medley relay (1:34.22) to a win against Ashland and Tiffin (11/3) ... helped the 200 medley relay (1:33.25) to a win at Calvin (11/17) ... took first place in the 100 breast (57.1) and second place in the 200 free (1:44.85) in the same meet ... won the 100 breaststroke (56.93) and was a member of the second place 200 medley relay (1:30.97) at the EMU Invite (12/2) ... finished first in the 100 breaststroke (57.33) vs. Grand Valley State, while helping the 400 medley relay (3:23.53) to a first-place finish and the 400 free relay (3:08.51) to second place in the same meet ... won the 100 breaststroke (56.34) 200 breaststroke (2:04.82) vs. Saginaw Valley State (1/12), and was a member of the winning 200 medley relay team (1:32.58) in the same meet ... took first in the 100 breast (56.91) at Findlay (1/19) while guiding the 400 free relay (3:13.97) and the 200 medley relay (1:35.06) to wins in the same meet ... swam to a first place finish in the 100 breaststroke (56.68) and was a member of the winning 200 medley relay (1:32.45) vs. Eastern Michigan (1/20), while claiming second in the 200 breaststroke in the same meet.
2016-17: NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: Three-time First Team All-American and earned Honorable Mention All-American recognition … swam the second leg of both the 200 medley relay (1:27.75) and the 400 medley relay (3:12.67) that placed fifth and fourth, respectively … logged a fifth-place finish in the 100 breast (53.73) … took 12th in the 200 breast in 1:59.43 … competed on the 800 free relay team. GLIAC CHAMPIONSHIPS: Took fourth in the 200 free 1:39.49 … swam the second leg of the second-place 400 medley relay team (3:15.16) … finished second in both the 100 breast (54.11) and 200 breast (1:59.49). SEASON: Participated in all eight meets … won the 100 free, recording fastest time of the season (47.06) versus Calvin (11/18) … recorded first-place finishes and top times of the season in both the 100 (55.04) and 200 (1:59.41) breast at the EMU Invite (12/3) … posted a victory in the 200 free at Findlay (1/13) with a season-best time of 1:43.62.
High School/Club: A 2016 graduate from KOR-1 … swam under the leadership of coach Marcello Rigamonti … collected the bronze medal in the breast at the 2013 National Championship in Rovereto, Italy.
Personal: Full name -- Sasha Palazzo … born on Nov. 20, 1999, in Palermo, Italy … son of Giovanni Palazzo and Nadejda Volkova … was a has one brother, Michele, and two sisters, Xenia and Maria … Xenia is a paralympic athlete on the Italian national team … she was named the 2014 Emerging Athlete of the Year by the Sports Veterans Veronesi Group … is majoring in Theatre ... named to the Coach's Honor Roll (term GPA 3.0-3.49) for Fall 2018 and Winter 2019 ... last name is pronounced pal-at-so.
