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Columbia University recently announced its plans to launch a four billion dollar capital campaign. Columbia Swimming, although not seeking to raise significant amounts of capital has embarked on a campaign of equal magnitude. "Well, not really," explains Head Coach Jim Bolster, "but we are chasing 34 years of history. Not since 1972 has an Ivy League team finished ahead of Princeton or Harvard at our EISL Championships."
Coming off of their third consecutive top three EISL finish and one of school's most successful dual meet seasons ever the Lions do indeed appear poised to take on history. "There is great anticipation for the 2006-2007season," announces Bolster. "We have been slowly, but steadily closing the gap between ourselves and Princeton and Harvard. We feel this season will be our window of opportunity!"
Columbia Swimming has performed admirably under the 22 year tenure of Head Coach Jim Bolster. The record boards have been rewritten and the team has achieved a consistent level of success unmatched by any other era, but still coach Bolster remains unsatisfied. "Do not for a minute believe that we are not pleased with what we have accomplished," assures Bolster, "but there is still much more we can achieve. The potential is there for Columbia Swimming to win it all; to make history, and we are looking forward to the opportunities to do just that."
Whether or not 2006-2007 is the year the Lions rewrite the record books remains a mystery, but one thing the Lions will have in their favor is strong senior leadership. Tobin White (20.36/44.72/1:37.15) a three time all Ivy performer will be the designated captain, but Bolster feels it will be the effect of the senior class as a whole that will have the most impact on the team. "Tobin has been a powerful force in our program and I am confident that he will be an excellent captain, but he really is an extension of our senior class," explains Bolster. "As a group our seniors represent all that we believe Columbia Swimming is about. They are talented, motivated and positive; they put forth a great effort and they all have near perfect attendance records. The class of 2007 has embraced the idea of making history. It will be exciting to see how many pages they can write!"
Once again the Lions line up will feature much freestyle talent. Top eight EISL finalists return in every event. "We have an exciting group of athletes to work with," cites Bolster. "If all goes well we should be in contention to win some individual as well as relay titles at our championships." Captain White, runner up in the 200 free at the 2006 EISL Championships will lead the wave of talent that includes distance aces Henning Fog (4:29.45/9:11.69/15:28.09), Jake Abbott (4:31.97/9:28.80/15.56.83) and Mitch Newman (4:36.61/16:06.26). "Jake, Henning and Mitch will give us one of the league's best distance trios," reports Bolster. "These three have developed consistently in their time here, and if the trend continues we could be in for more impressive results." In the middle distance free events Hyun Lee (1:38.53/4:28.44) and Kevin Wakefield (1:39.95/4:33.29) two sophomore studs will lead the charge. "Hyun and Kevin had major impacts on our team's success last year," recalls Bolster. "We will be counting on them to continue to work their magic this year." A pair of fast developing sprinters; senior Chris Scruton (21.36/46.84/1:43.37) and sophomore Maurice Wright (21.34) will have the opportunity to contribute to the Lions sprint corps. "With the graduation of three fourths of all of our sprint relays we are in need of some returning talent to step up," explains Bolster. "These two will be given the first opportunity to fill the void."
Ultimately the Lions success this year will be dictated by the performances of its freestyle swimmers. "We certainly have a formidable array of talent and depth returning," notes Bolster. "This group will allow us to be very versatile with our meet line ups and they should score lots of points for us at both the dual and championship levels."
The lone returning starter for the Lions is senior Luke Fitzpatrick (50.70/1:49.65). "Luke is a tenacious competitor and he has been one of our top point producers at the dual and championship meet levels," comments Bolster. "Although we do not have much in the way of depth Luke gives us a shot at winning both the backstroke events anytime he gets in the water." Lack of depth will be a factor for the Lions, but coach Bolster feels that there could be some help on its way. "We have recruited a couple of freshmen that could make a difference, but we also have returning sophomore John Dragelin (1:53.04) who we think will play a major role. We did not focus much on John's backstroke last year mainly because we had an abundance of backstroke swimmers. Obviously things are different this season so look for John to have more of an impact."
Senior and school record holder Mike Nelson (56.13/2:01.23) returns to head up the Lions breaststroke unit. "Mike has played a huge role in our success over the past three years," explains Bolster. "He is a terrific talent and we are fortunate to have his leadership for one more year." Nelson has three times been the runner up at the EISL meet and Bolster and his Light Blue crew are hoping that this year Mike will breakthrough for the top spot on the awards podium. "Mike has come awfully close to winning it all in both the 100 and 200 yard events," recollects the coach. "It would be awfully rewarding to see him add a gold medal performance to his resume." In addition to Nelson the Lions welcome back sophomores Zach Glassman (57.64/2:03.41) and Avi Harari (58.60/2:06.43). "Both Zach and Avi were transitioning from meters to yards last season," highlights Bolster. "Zach adapted rather quickly and really turned in a spectacular first year while Avi struggled, but came on fast at the end. With a full year now under their belts we should have one of the league's more impressive breaststroke units."
Ben Neuwirth who was the Lions sole entry in the 100 yard butterfly at last year's EISL Championship meet has graduated. "We are still searching for his replacement," laments Bolster. "Actually, we brought in four or five freshmen who can all swim the 100 so it will be interesting to see which one or ones claim the role as our top sprint flyer." Lack of talent and depth however is not the case in the 200 yard fly event as five letter winner's return to lead the way. Senior Brendan Murphy (1:52.61), junior Luke Wang (1:55.37) and three sophomores Hyun Lee (1:49.85), Cedric Cheung-Lau (1:51.54) and Dave Collier (1:52.46) all EISL scorers return. "We have some great veteran swimmers to rely on," reports Bolster. "In particular Lee, Cheung-Lau and Collier developed consistently at the highest levels over the course of last year, and we will be counting on that trend to continue this year. We will also ask these five guys to help guide and develop our talented group of freshmen."
Five EISL Championship meet scorers return to lend their versatility to the school of medley specialists. Fitzpatrick (1:51.17) a fifth place finisher in the 200 I.M. at the 2006 EISL meet will team up with Dragelin (1:53.31) the seventeenth place scorer to provide the Light Blue a solid duo of 200 IMers. Meanwhile sophomores Cheung-Lau (3:57.03) and Glassman (3:59.00) both top eight finalists at the 2006 EISL Championships, and classmate Collier (4:07.61) the nineteenth place finisher give the Lions a solid core of 400 IMers. "We have a nice blend of returning talent and experience in the individual medley events," asserts Bolster. "With our level of talent and depth we should be able to accomplish several of our goals which include: scoring big points at the championship meet, and giving our talented group of incoming freshmen IMers the time and the chance to develop their races."
Head diving coach Gordon Spencer embarks on his twenty fourth year at the helm of the Lion's program and he will start the year with three veteran divers. "We are fortunate to have three athletes with the quality and level of experience Justin, Dean and Jeff have," notes Spencer. "This will allow us to get to work quickly on fine tuning our current list of dives as well as provide us the opportunity to learn some new dives." Reardon, a two time EISL top eight finalist on both boards will be counted on to score the majority of the Lion's diving points, but Hull and Spirito provide solid back up support. "Justin is one of the finest divers we have had in our program," praises Spencer. "It will be exciting to see how much more he can develop. Dean and Jeff improved consistently throughout the course of last season, and if that trend continues this year we should see some great results."
"One of the more exciting yet unpredictable aspects of any swim season is the contributions of the incoming class," explains Bolster. This year should be no exception as the Light Blue welcomes another large number of talented recruits. "For the third consecutive year we have a sizeable number of freshmen joining our program," notes the coach. Fourteen in fact is the number that will wear Columbia Blue for the first time in the 2006-2007 season.
"You never really know for sure what you are getting in terms of talent, attitude and potential nor do you know who all will come through for you on race day therefore it is nice to have the luxury of numbers on your side," elaborates Bolster. "We worked hard last year in our recruiting efforts to shore up our sprint butterfly and backstroke issues, and we feel as though we have six candidates who can help immediately." Gunnar Aasen (Pittsburgh, PA), Nick Barron (Boonton, NJ), and Gabe Schubiner (Pleasant Ridge, MI) are all flyers who should have an impact. "All three of these recruits have experience at the national level and will be expected to play leading roles for us this year," outlines Bolster. In particular Aasen and Barron will handle the fly duties while Schubiner, a good sprint flyer in his own right will concentrate more on the backstroke events. "We believe, at least initially, that Gabe can do more for us in the backstroke events," claims Bolster. "Gunnar and Nick should be able to cover the fly races which will free Gabe up for the backstroke. Not to be overlooked are the potential contributions of Eric McKenna (Newton Center, MA), Philippe Putzeys (Newtonville, MA) and Vinson Wang (Lagrangeville, NY). "We are very pleased to have these three within our ranks," comments Bolster. "They will provide plenty of depth and energy over the course of our long season."
Versatility, especially in the stroke events is a highly sought after commodity in today's recruiting efforts. In 2006-2007 the Lions will be rewarded handsomely for their efforts in this regard with the addition of five such talents. Adam Bulkley (Baltimore, MD) and Jordan Kobb (Baltimore, MD) teammates from North Baltimore Aquatic Club (home to Michael Phelps) will join ranks with Ross Ramone (Newark, DE), Darren Pagan (Oakland, CA) and Eric Tang (Moraga, CA) to give the Light Blue a plethora of individual medley and stroke talent. "We could not be more pleased with this group," remarks Bolster. "It will be fun to see how this group matures because a good part of our pursuit of them last year was based on our belief in their potential. We feel that each one of these guys is on the verge of accomplishing some amazing things in the water. If this is the year they all blossom so will the fortunes of our program!" Bulkley and Kobb can swim the I.M., breast and fly events; Ramone and Tang the breast and I.M. events while Pagan will get opportunities in the I.M. and sprint free events.
Chris O'Connor (Lynnbrook, NY) and Robert Frawley (Syosset, NY) will round out the class of 2010. O'Connor and Frawley, teammates last year at Long Island's Chaminade High School will join current Lion sophomore and Chaminade grad Kevin Wakefield to give the Light Blue a formidable trio in the sprint and middle distance free events. "We were looking for a sprinter or two in our recruiting efforts last year," conveys Bolster. "We feel fortunate to have landed two swimmers the caliber of Robert and Kevin."
Columbia Swimming has enjoyed a streak of success that is unmatched by any previous era. "In order for us to sustain our current level of good fortune, and to gain ground on the top two teams we will need our freshmen class to develop quickly," analyzes Bolster. "We feel that the Class of 2010 has the numbers, the talent, the potential and the work ethic to keep our quest for the top alive!"