Season Outlook

The 1996-97 season finds the Lions looking to continue their rebuilding efforts towards a shot at another Ivy title. Although it has been six years since the Lions last battled for the top spot, thirteenth year head coach Jim Bolster feels his squad is h eaded in the right direction. "It has been difficult recruiting all of the depth that five place scoring requires," admitted Bolster, "but I think this year we will finally have every event covered and then some." The EISL championships will continue to be the Lions' focus for the 96-97 campaign. "Our sixth place finish (4th amongst the Ivies) last year represented a nice improvement from the year before, but still, it is not indicative of how much better I think we can do this year," commented Bolster. "We lost very little to graduation, and with a great number of talented freshmen arriving we should be able to continue our upward movement." The majority of the leadership burden will fall on the shoulders of the junior and senior classes, though oddly enough, it is they who represent less than on e third of the team roster. "We need our supper-classmen to buffer much of the intensity of Ivy competition in order to give our younger swimmers an opportunity to develop," notes Bolster. Leading this group will be senior co�captains Scott Sherman and Dave Michaels, both of whom have three years of league and championship experience. Sherman, a three year EISL qualifier and scorer was the Lions' top point producer of last year's Championships. Scoring in the top five in all three of his events, Sherman amasses forty-five points and finished the meet off with a school record while lea ding off the 400 free relay. "Scott has improved tremendously since his arrival at Columbia and if his development this year matches that of his first three, I think he has a realistic opportunity at being the Lions' first EISL champion and NCAA qualifie r since 1983," claims Bolster. Mike McCosker, Matt Gilman, and Roy Griffith, all with EISL championship experience and point production will be several of the key performers from the junior class. McCosker in particular, as he has scored in the distance free events in both of his firs t two years. "It is hard not to overlook the numbers of our freshmen and sophomore classes," says Bolster, "but it will be the leadership and experience of our juniors and seniors that will dictate our success this year. The senior class especially represents solid d iscipline both in and out of the pool, an that should help our younger swimmers immensely," observes Bolster.

Sprint Freestyle... The shorter freestyle races could be a real strength for the Light Blue this year. Junior Roy Griffith is the top returning sprinter, but he is surrounded by plenty of other speed. Sophomores Russell Perkins, Sharif Khaleel, and Mike Poropat form a tale nted trio and the return of senior Chris Harris will make the Lions very deep in all of the sprints.

Mid and Distance Freestyle... The Lions look to be strong here as well. The reemergence of senior Ed Yaeger, an Eastern 200 free finalist in his freshman year will contribute in a huge way to the middle distance group. Yaeger will join Sherman, juniors McCosker and Jamie Setzler, a nd sophomores Perkins and Poropat to compete in one of the league's strongest unity. Moving up to he 500, 1000, and 1650 yard races, the Lions continue to be solid. McCosker, senior co-captain David Michaels, and sophomore Chris Ferris will lead the charge. All three have Eastern championship experience and both McCosker and Ferris served in the 1000 and 1650 frees at last year's meet. Sophomores Neal Karnovsky and Steve McGrath will provide plenty of depth should anyone falter.

Backstroke... The Lions could struggle in the backstroke events due to a lack of depth. Sophomore Zach Spreitzer, one of last year's most improved freshmen, will be the Lions' main force. Returning from a season in which he dropped over ten seconds in his 200 back race, Spreitzer is looking to claim the school record while the rest of the Lions will be looking for some back up support. In particular, junior Matt Gilman and sophomores Todd Berget and Chris Tennyson will be the Lions' first tested.

Breaststroke... What had been one of the weaker events for the Lions over the past few years has suddenly become one of their stronger suits. The addition of four freshmen breaststrokers certainly helps, but more importantly, the Lions return last year's freshman sensat ion Chris Tennyson, senior Eugene Yamamoto, and junior Matt Gilman. Tennyson just missed claiming the school record in the 200 but should have an even better shot this year after a summer of hard training. The versatile Gilman developed into a consolati on finalist breaststroker in one year and should continue his development while the senior Yamamoto is looking to return after two years of nagging injuries.

Butterfly... Here again the Lions are helped with the addition of two freshmen flyers, but Scott Sherman should remain the Lions' top flyer. Fourth in last year's 100 fly at Easterns, Sherman is just four tenths of a second away from adding another school record to h is bio. Junior Louis De Leon and Sophomore Stefan Weiss will handle the longer fly events while a host of sophomores led by Khaleel and Perkins will back Sherman up in the 100.

Individual Medley Scott Sherman once again pops up as the leading Lion, placing fifth in last year's championship heat of the 200 IM. Sherman came within five tenths of the Lions' school record and, "should have a terrific shot at establishing a new record this year," not es Bolster. Sophomore Tennyson is a fast developing IMer and could provide plenty of reinforcement to Sherman in the 200 yard or even in the 400 IM. Junior Matt Gilman, however, should be the Lions' top 400 IMer, as he returns after having been a consol ation finalist in the event at last year's championship meet. Gilman has improved steadily each year and will be counted on to continue that development. The Lions will also be looking to sophomore Todd Berget to develop his IM races.

Diving... The addition of homegrown talent "Downtown" Daniel Brown has the Lions all fired up. Brown, a product of coach Gordon Spencer's "Morningside Muggers" diving club will provide instant help. With a wide range of experience at the state, regional, and nati onal levels, Brown will ease much of senior Mike Feit's burden. Feit, a walk-on talent three years ago, has been the Lions' only diver. The addition of Brown will give the Lions a solid one-two scoring tandem, something the Lions have not had in five ye ars.

The Competitive Season... The Lions begin the 96-97 campaign on the road. A tough double dual meet with Harvard and Army at West Point will open the year, followed by road encounters with Rhode Island and Yale. The Lions close the first half of the year with their first home mee t against Cornell in early December. The new year begins with a two week training trip to Hawaii, Kuna, on the big island, to be exact. Here the Lions will prepare for the second half of their league schedule. key match ups with Dartmouth, Penn, Princeton, Brown, and Navy will highlight th e stretch run. The 60th annual EISL Championships take place at Princeton University's 'DeNunzio Pool' Feb. 27 through March 1. Diving zones and the Yale Invite follow a week later. NCAA's in Minneapolis, MN, March 27-29, will close out the Lions' championship season.