This year's team, with the goals of earning at least a sixth place finish and a winning record, hopes to have a successful season.

"We hope to win more often [this year] and be more competitive in some of our dual meets," Head Coach Jim Bolster said.

Bolster also hopes to improve on his sixth place finish at the Eastern Championships last year.

The swimmers are optimistic too and hope to finish ahead of last year's team.

"I think that last year was a surprising year, finishing sixth at the Eastern Championships," junior P.J. Frueler said. "I believe we can go [to] a top five finish if not a top four at the Eastern Championships."

A top-five finish is not out of reach of these hard working Lions, a fact which other teams are aware of.

"Every time someone swims us, they get fired up," Bolster said. "[Other teams know that] if they're not ready, they'll be in trouble."

This hard working Columbia team also seems to have a bit of a change in attitude this year. Frueler credits much of their newfound optimism to a change in attitude on the team brought on by the young prospective of the first-year team and an inspirational assistant coach.

"Mark Henderson's confidence on the pool deck had made the difference in out change in attitude," Frueler said.

The first-year class has added much needed depth as well as good spirits. There are 12 incoming recruited swimmers, including seven Junior National Team qualifiers. The first-years will contribute to the long distance and middle distance freestyle events as well as to the sprints and the butterfly.

"The freshmen this year are extremely versatile, and they will help us greatly by adding more depth to the events, especially mid-distance," senior co-captain, Sharif Kahleel said.

The Lions also have several top returners from last year's squad. Sprinter, Gered Doherty looks to improve on his performance as the top individual scorer for Columbia in last year's Eastern Championships while senior co-captain Chris Ferris will lead the Lions in the long distance freestyle events. The team also has high hopes for Kahleel in the breaststroke and the sprint freestyle, Frueler in the freestyle and the individual medley, Peter Leong in the butterfly and freestyle, Matt Schultz in the backstroke and freestyle, and Joe Zdrilic in the sprint freestyle.

Sophomore Matt Schultz's positive attitude comes with a commitment to having fun. "I'm more concerned with how much fun we have than how well we do."

The men's diving team also looks to have a good season, with two strong returners, junior Daniel Brown and sophomore Mark Fichera. Both Brown and Fichera made it to the finals at the Eastern Championships last year-Brown on the one meter board and Fichera on the three meter board. Brown went on to finish in the top ten at the NCAA Zone Championships while Fichera earned a sixth place finish. The divers look to continue their strong record with a Stu Machir, a promising recruit.