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Lion Men's Swimming to
Build on Greatest Season Ever
By Tara Krieger Columbia Daily Spectator How do you improve on the best? The men's swimming and diving team is about to find out. The 1999-2000 season might be regarded as the greatest season in the history of Columbia swimming. The Lions walked away with awards for Diver of the Year, Swimmer of the Year, and Coaches of the Year. Three members of the squad made the Olympic trials, and they finished sixth overall in the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League Championships. But after losing various stars to graduation, including diver Daniel Brown and sprinter Gered Doherty, the swim team must look to a new crop of recruits to fill their ranks. Among this year's promising prospects are sprinters Reid Evans, a Texas state 100-yard backstroke and freestyle champion; and Charles Catanach, runner-up in the Tennessee 1500-yard freestyle, along with diver Scott Troob. ''I'm very optimistic about how Scott is going to perform,'' Diving Head Coach Gordon Spencer said. ''He's a real strong and explosive diver, and he is certainly a fantastic addition to our team. We don't always get a first-year diver that has the high level of skills that Scott has. So in a way it's going to be a very interesting season, just to see how Scott holds up and to see how he can be successful. I certainly think he can.'' Men's and Women's Swimming Kick Off Season By Tara Krieger Spectator Sports Writer It was a very eventful weekend for the Columbia swim teams. The women proved they could still be competitive without the legendary Cristina Teuscher, and though Yale spoiled their first official meet of the season on Friday, 182-117, the Lions recovered the next day with a massacre of Davidson, 191-106. The men's team also celebrated a victory over Davidson Saturday afternoon, 162-126, though the meet counted only as a practice meet in the standings. ''This is the first time we've actually had a competition this early in the year,'' said Men's Head Swimming Coach Jim Bolster. ''There's a league rule you're not allowed to have the first dual meet competition prior to the last football Saturday. But if you call it a scrimmage, you can?I thought it was good for us.'' The men's team battled it out all afternoon against the Wildcats, a team it had never faced before. Although the Lions emerged from the competition having won only eight of 16 events, they managed to finish in first or second place in every race but two (the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke). Men Drop Two of Three Over Weekend By Tara Krieger Columbia Daily Spectator As the newest crop of first-years paraded out alongside the pool before the start of Sunday's meet against UMass, one could only hope the unusual designs shaved into their heads would bring some sort of good luck to a team that stood 0-2 after its first double dual meet. It did, as the men's swim team beat the Minutemen 147-96. ''This is tradition,'' junior Jeff (KJ) Klein said. ''For the first home meet we [the upperclassmen] always do interesting haircuts [on the first-years]. It's been going on for quite a few years.'' Sporting every hairstyle from the Three Stooges to the Communist Party's hammer and sickle, the first-years played a key role in Sunday's victory, responsible for four individual successes. The best of all was going 1-2-3 on the 1000-yard freestyle, an event where first-year Mike Bazylewicz improved his personal best time from Friday to 9:46.17, almost 10 seconds ahead of teammate first-year Nick Clements. Bazylewicz also won the 500-yard freestyle, at 4:44.92. First-year Charles Catanach garnered winning times in the 100-yard freestyle (47.91) and the 200-yard backstroke (1:54.18). Sophomore Arpad Sebe also chipped in, taking the 200-yard individual medley in 1:55.78. The Lions also got both relays. The foursome of first-year Reid Evans, Sebe, Catanach, and first-year Scott Ingram won the 400-yard medley in 3:29.92, and Evans, Ingram, and co-captains junior Colin Shannahan and senior Matt Schultz won the 400-yard freestyle in 3:10.57. But the biggest story of the day was Mark Fichera. Coach: jbb2@columbia.edu Webmaster: mgs28@columbia.edu Send a recruit form by following this link |