Cindy Johnson-Standaert, Class of 1988, has been elected to the Northeastern University Hall of Fame for excellence in the sport of swimming.
Johnson went from swimming star at NU to coach at NU. She arrived at Barletta pool in 1983 after a great career as an AAU competitor and as a four-year letter winner at Bedford High School. While at Bedford she won eight Massachusetts State Championships and was voted Boston Globe All-Scholastic in 1979 and 1980.
Johnson made a big splash as a freshman, winning the 1,650-meter freestyle in the 1984 New England Championship. She had also set Northeastern records in the 500 freestyle, 1,000 freestyle, the 1,650 freestyle and the 400 individual medley. That year the Huskies finished the dual meet schedule 5-5 and placed a respectable seventh at the ECAC Championship.
In her sophomore year she bettered her records in the 500, 1,000 and 1,650 meter freestyles. The Huskies' dual meet record improved to 8-4 and the team finished fifth at the New England Championship.
In Johnson's junior season she improved upon her 400 individual medley record and was a member of an 800-meter freestyle relay team that set a new mark. The team finished at 8-2 and jumped to second place at the New England's and had a 10th place finish at the prestigious Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship.
Her senior year was Johnson's best. She was named team captain and again broke her own record in the 800 freestyle relay. The team's record was 7-3 for another outstanding season. Over her four years the Huskies had won 28 dual meets and suffered only 14 losses. At the New England Championship, she received All-New England honors in six events as NU once again finished second. At the ECAC's, with Johnson placing in four events, the Huskies vaulted from a 10th place finish in '86 to third in '87.
Johnson had been the great point contributor for four years and when it was all tallied up she held the total dual meet record at NU with an outstanding 507 points. The final laurel wreath for the season was being voted the team's Most Valuable Player.
Coach Janet Swanson knew during Johnson's junior and senior seasons that she was blessed with an extra coach, although in the water and not poolside. So upon graduation, Swanson, who coached both the men and women hired Johnson as an assistant to the women's team in 1989 and then made her head coach of women's swimming in 1991. In her last year of coaching her team won the America East title and she was voted Coach of the Year.
