Princeton University Athletics
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Men's Swimming/Diving Eyes Third Straight EISL Title As 2007-08 Season Opens
November 07, 2007 | Men's Swimming and Diving
The two-time defending EISL champion Princeton men's swimming and diving team was built by successful veteran head coach Rob Orr to do more than just get to the top. The Tigers were built to stay there.
Figure it this way. Every year, each college squad is going to lose a handful of swimmers and divers, and its likely that there will be a few major scorers in that mix. Some teams can catch lightning in a bottle and win with one terrific class, but what happens when their graduation year hits?
Without question, graduation takes its toll on Princeton as well. A pair of former All-Americas, Meir Hasbani and Kent DeMond, graduated this past year. But the Tigers have used incredible depth to win each of the last two EISL championships. Only one Tiger swimmer, junior Doug Lennox, has claimed an individual event in the last two years, but there have been more than enough reaching championship finals to push Princeton past the field.
With another strong recruiting class in the fold and a roster of competitors who now expect to win, the Tigers are primed to stay exactly where they are ? on top. The season begins Friday night at DeNunzio Pool, where Princeton has never lost, in a men's and women's dual meet with Oakland at 6 p.m.
Freestyle
Junior Mike Carter returns as Prince-ton's top scorer in the sprint events. He reached the championship finals in both the 50 and 100 last year, scoring much-needed points in both events. With only one senior in both championship finals, Carter will need to continue lowering his time to keep up with the strong class of EISL swimmers.
Lennox also qualified for the 100 free championship final, and he swam the anchor leg in both the 200 free and 400 free relays. Senior Mike Baity, junior Will Schaffer and sophomore Jon Hartmann were also part of one or both relay teams and will also provide depth in the stroke.
The coaching staff is also hoping for some new blood to provide EISL scoring in the sprint events. Freshmen Geoffrey Faux and Alex Verdegem are two potential breakout candidates for the Orange and Black. Faux was a Georgia state champion in the 50 free and a third-place finisher in the 100 free, while Verdegem was a top performer in California. Classmate Peter Fellowes of Pepper Pike, Ohio, is another who could impact the conference meet with a drop in his times.
Carter and Hartmann both had Top 10 times in the 200 last year, and junior Robert Griest was Princeton's top scorer in the remainder of the free events. Griest, whose 79 points last year trailed only Schaffer (80) among returning Princeton swimmers, placed sixth in the 500 (4:28.00), second in the 1000 (9:06.64) and third in the 1650 (15:21.42). His 1000 time was less than three tenths of a second off the winning mark and is likely his best chance for a first EISL title this year. He will again be counted on to be a top scorer this season, especially with the graduation of fellow distance specialist Dave Ashley.
Senior Stan Buncher finished ninth in both the 1000 and 1650 and could move into Ashley's spot as the No. 2 distance performer. Freshman Pat Biggs had a strong senior high school performance and could be a scorer for Princeton this season.
Backstroke
The graduation of Mike Zee has left a significant hole in this stroke. Junior Dan O'Connor is Princeton's top returning scorer, with 12th-place finishes in both the 100 and 200. No other Tiger competitor reached the ?C' final, meaning Princeton will need to find depth behind O'Connor to aid in the two individual events as well as the medley relays.
Again, this could come from the incoming freshmen. Both Faux and Fellowes were successful backstrokers in high school, and classmate Tristan Hastings could grow into an EISL scorer with a strong couple of years.
Breaststroke
Junior Easton Chen was a conference finalist in both the 100 and 200 last season and will be a leader in the stroke again this season. His performances in the medley relays helped Princeton to Top 3 finishes in both the 200 and 400, and with a trio of seniors ahead of him in both individual finals, Chen has the oppotrunity to move up.
One of the underclassmen ahead of him was Schaffer, who competed in the 200 and placed fourth overall in 2:02.37. Schaffer was the eighth-highest individual scorer at the 2007 championships and the fifth-highest scorer among returning competitors. Although the breast is not his strongest event (more on that later), he is plenty capable of bringing in big points for the Tigers. Freshmen John Bannon and David Schutz are among the newcomers who also hope to factor into the conference squad.
Butterfly
It's been a tradition during the last several EISL championships. On the final day of the competition, in the final individual swimming event, a handful of Tigers line up for the 200 fly final. It has been one of the dominant events for the Tigers, and although 2006 All-America Meir Hasbani has graduated, it should still be a focal point for Princeton.
Lennox is one of the premier fly swimmers in the league. His win in the 100 last year (47.94) was Princeton's only EISL individual win during its two team titles. The top four finishers are all juniors this season, and all finished within a second of each other, so there should be another exciting battle for that title.
Lennox and Hasbani were joined by junior Dan Eckel and graduated senior Tim Ruse in the 200 final last year. Eckel placed third overall, but both swimmers ahead of him graduated this summer. Like the 100, a deep field of juniors, including Lennox, was just behind Eckel. The coaching staff will look to continue sending multiple swimmers into the fly finals, and one potential candidate is Brett Lullo, an Illinois state champion in the 100 last year.
Individual Medley
Princeton has gotten points when needed in the backstroke and the breaststroke. It has made significant moves in the free events ? from sprint to distance ?? and has claimed its lone individual crown in the fly.
But make no mistake. From a team standpoint, Princeton has owned the individual medley.
Sure, nobody is likely to touch Harvard senior Geoff Rathgeber in either the 200 or 400 IMs this season, since he placed in the Top 20 at NCAAs in both events. But Princeton has been the team scoring the majority of points in the two events; the Tigers had six of the top 10 finishers in the 200 and five of the top eight in the 400.
Leading the way is Schaffer, who placed second in the 200 (1:48.53) and fourth in the 400 (3:55.38). In both events, the only returning swimmer who finished ahead of Schaffer is Rathgeber, and no other returning swimmer finished within one second of him in either final. In fact, nobody was within two seconds of Schaffer in the 400 final.
Sophomore Chris Quemana made an immediate name for himself with a seventh-place finish in the 200 and a sixth-place finish in the 400. Only one other freshman had a faster time than Quemana in either final, which is a positive sign for future championships. Classmate Hartmann took eighth in the 200 IM final, while Eckel picked up an eighth-place finish in the 400. Those two, along with Chen, are all potential finalists in either or both competitions again this season.
Five of Princeton's eight incoming freshman can all swim IM, so the depth will again be there. Colin Hanna of Walnut Creek, Calif., could be the biggest immediate factor, though. He saw significant drops in his time over the last year and, with continued progress, could be a factor in the finals. He also swims mid-distance free events. Lullo and Bannon are among the other freshmen to keep an eye on.
Diving
Sophomore Mike Papageorge and senior Stuart Malcolm are a significant 1-2 punch for the Tigers. They finished 2-3 in the 3-meter competition and 2-5 in the 1-meter final. The two divers, each of whom holds a Princeton record, lead a strong, young contingent that includes sophomore Dan Dickerson and junior Charlie Razook. Both of them reached the ?B' finals in both events and have the potential to jump into championship finals this season. Coach Greg Gunn will be looking for someone to help make up for the loss of All-America Kent DeMond, one of Princeton's most consistent scorers in recent years.