Princeton University Athletics
Men's Swimming Begins 2003-04 Season This Weekend
November 20, 2003 | Men's Swimming and Diving
Nov. 20, 2003
Princeton, N.J. - The Princeton men's swimming and diving team opens the season this weekend with three Ivy League meets. On Friday and Saturday, the Tigers take on Penn and Cornell in Ithaca, before travelling to Brown for a Sunday afternoon event. The Tigers have finished first or second in the league for the past 21 seasons and look to continue that trend in 2003-04.
Here's a look at the team's 2003-04 season outlook.
The Princeton men's swimming and diving teams are coming off one of the most successful seasons in school history. The Tigers will look to add to their list of accomplishments in their 2003-04 campaign. Princeton returns a deep group of swimmers, led by captains Juan Pablo Valdivieso, Kevin Weiner, and Jeff Yellin. The Tigers return nine lettermen who have recorded Top 10 times in school history, including two swimmers who have earned the distinction of Honorable Mention All-America. Princeton will have 18 swimmers and divers on its roster who won dual meet events last year. The incoming class should also make an immediate impact. Seven high school All-Americas will join the Tigers this season. Five freshmen have already posted times that would place them in the Top 10 on the Princeton all-time list in their respective events.
Head swim coach Rob Orr will be back for his 25th season at Princeton. The former All-America swimmer at the University of Southern California has compiled a 215-29 (.881) record during his career and is one of the most successful coaches in any sport at Princeton. The Tigers are never rebuilding with Orr at the helm as returning lettermen and freshmen have consistently risen to the challenge. Despite losing five school record holders from the class of 2003, the new class of talented swimmers along with the experienced upperclassmen should continue Orr's longstanding tradition of excellence.
Head diving coach Greg Gunn and Assistant Coach Eric Eikenbary also return for the 2003-04 season. This will be Gunn's 14th season as Princeton's diving coach and Eikenbary's second as an assistant.
Princeton will face a difficult schedule that will include an unfamiliar opponent. The Tigers travel to the University of Pittsburgh to face the Top 25 ranked Panthers for the first time since the 1994-95 season. The team also hosts both the Harvard-Yale-Princeton double-dual meet and the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League (EISL) Championships at DeNunzio Pool.
Despite losing the Ivy League's all-time fastest sprinter in Jesse Gage '03, the Tigers' sprint freestyle corps looks to maintain its league dominance. Senior Mike Salerno, last year's EISL runner up in the 100 freestyle, leads the young group. Junior Justin Chiles and sophomores Will Reinhardt and John Stover look to build on a successful 2002-03 season. They emerged as three of the fastest Tigers last winter and should pick up right where they left off this year. Junior Jeremy Tillman and freshman Ryan McCabe are also expected to make an impact in the sprint events.
Princeton's middle distance freestyle swimmers will be one of the team's strengths this year. Valdivieso and Chiles have established themselves as two of the conference's best swimmers. Senior Chester Yarbrough, sophomore Brian Shue, and freshmen David Ashley and McCabe will round out this impressive group.
The Tigers seem primed to have a breakout year in distance freestyle. Valdivieso, one of the team's most consistent swimmers for the last three years, leads the group. Ashley joins the team having already recorded times that place him among Princeton's all-time best, while junior Pat Gremban, senior Kevin Weiner and junior Bryan Ellis will also be counted upon to contribute in the longer races.
The Tigers' backstroke will also be a mix of youth and experience. Freshman Mike Zee will join school record holder senior Steve Fleming to form an imposing backstroke duo. Freshman Kyle Voorheis and Weiner add depth in the 100 and 200 respectively.
Despite losing four-time Eastern breaststroke champion Garth Fealey '03, the Tigers remain strong in the event. In his first two years, junior Evan Delaney has already achieved All-Ivy status in both breaststroke events. Tillman has steadily improved over his first two years and is poised to become one of the conference's elite breaststrokers. Senior Hallett Johnson, junior Greg Glass and newcomer Mike Ott provide depth for the Tigers.
Newcomers in the butterfly will once again give Princeton plenty of depth. Over a dozen Tigers could contribute in the 100, led by sophomores Stover and Travis Knop. The freshmen trio of Zee, Meir Hasbani, and Ryan Rimmele will also see plenty of action. The Tigers also boast a strong squad in the 200 fly, led by Valdivieso, the second-fastest 200 butterflyer in school history. Yarbrough, Shue, Knop, and freshmen Hasbani, Rimmele, and Tim Ruse '07 also excel in this event.
Several young swimmers will join the veterans in the Tigers' individual medley. Freshmen Zee and Ruse will join EISL finalists Fleming and Tillman in the 200 IM. Ruse and Ott will complement Gremban and Yarbrough in the 400 IM, while junior Thorn Baccich should add depth in both events.
Three proven divers return for the Tigers. Senior Michael Sullivan and junior Nick Lee showed strong improvement last year, as they both reached the finals on the 1-meter and 3-meter springboards at Easterns. Senior Mike Shyong also showed improvement with strong showings all year, especially on the 1-meter springboard.
The team will look toward the future as the 2003-2004 season promises to be exciting for the Tigers. Princeton should see a balanced contribution from all four classes. A talented group of newcomers, a focused group of sophomores and experienced upperclassmen will help continue the Princeton swimming and diving tradition.