Oct. 23, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. - In the world of swimming, speed is everything. While other factors such as experience, leadership, and the size of a team are significant, it ultimately comes down to speed.
While the 2003-04 version of the Wildcat swimming and diving team does possess a sizable amout of experience and leadership, the speed element might be even more noticable than in last year's team that finished 36th at the NCAA Championships.
Seniors Mark Hamming and Tony Swanson are two Wildcats who seem to possess the whole package. Both swimmers competed in the NCAA's last season. Hamming finished 11th in the 200 butterfly, while Swanson finished 32nd in the 200 backstroke. Swanson was the Big Ten Swimmer of the Championships in 2002.
One Wildcat who might find himself at a similar point early in his career is freshman Matt Grevers. Grevers was the named the high school swimmer of the year as a senior and should contribute immediately. He is joined by Mike Alexandrov and Kevin Donahue to round out one of the best freshman classes in NU history. Alexandrov will represent Bulgaria in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
Grevers, Ben Dexter, Shelby Clark, Dan Williams will be the main players for the 'Cats in the sprint freestyle stroke. Williams and Steve Petric will swim the middle distance freestyle events, while Brian Davis, Phil Mercier, and Tommy Lockman will compete primarily in the 500 free. Many of the 500 freestyle swimmers also will swim the 1650 as well.
The individual medley has been one of the Wildcats' stronger strokes over the years and with Hamming and Swanson both back, they should be as strong as ever. Head coach Bob Groseth feels that between Chris Biedrzycki, Davis, and Alexandrov at least two of them have a chance to advance all the way to the NCAA's. Mike Gustafson will add depth in both 200 and 400 IM as well.
Grevers, Swanson, and Biedrzycki will lead a backstroke unit that is expected to do very well again.
The coaching staff feels as though both Alexandrov and Donahue have the opportunity to be two of the best backstrokers in the Big Ten as freshmen. Louis Torres was the consistently one of the Wildcats' best in the breaststroke last season.
Despite the loss of Kellan O'Connor, who was a two-time Big Ten champion in the butterfly, Groseth feels as though that stroke could be their deepest stroke. According to Groseth, Hamming has an outstanding chance to win the Big Ten's and place in the top eight at te NCAA's.
"He's got a lot of speed. He is very explosive. He is physically maturing and should be faster than he's been," said Groseth.
On the diving end, sophomore Mike Oxman is the lone returner. Groseth claims he had a great summer and comes into the season seeking a top-five finsish in the 1 meter, 3 meter, and platform event.
One area Groseth feels the Wildcats can make a push on a national level is the relays. "There isn't any reason we shouldn't be looking to win one of the medley relays at the Big Tens."
Without question the 'Cats should make a push toward the top at the Big Ten Championships, however, Groseth claims that depth might prevent them from being exactly where they want to be.
Nonetheless, Groseth is happy with his team's preparation heading into the season and feels as though this team could be as good as any he has coached.
"I am excited about the attitude the team has shown so far," he said. "We know we can be a player at the NCAA Championships this year."