Swimming and Diving: Freshmen shine for Panthers

In the sports world, there will always be complaints about young teams. In many cases, the… In the sports world, there will always be complaints about young teams. In many cases, the gripes provide an excuse to fall back on later in the season, should there be any disappointment. But with young talent comes great expectations, particularly in sports which aren’t usually known for “one-and-done” athletes.

Chuck Knoles, head coach of the Pitt’s swim team, has had no issue handling a team with a large crop of freshmen on board. The team is sitting at a cool 4-2 in the Big East, having already faced the toughest of their in-conference opponents in their two losses to Louisville and Notre Dame.

“On the men’s side, we ended up having four guys that all made their Trial Cuts between the time we signed them and the time they showed up,” Knoles said after practice Tuesday.

For the record, those are Olympic Trial Cuts — and the U.S. has some of the fastest around. The four to make the cut so far are Jon Lierley, who earned the honor in the 200 butterfly, Austin Caldwell (50 freestyle), Luke Nosbisch (200 breaststroke) and Kourosh Ahani (100 butterfly).

“Kourosh Ahani can’t go to our Olympic Trials because he’s from Canada,” Knoles said. “But the time he swam in the 100 fly would have made the U.S. Olympic Trials.”

His 48.12 in his race nets him the fastest time on the Pitt team, the second-fastest time in the Big East and the 33rd-fastest time in the entire NCAA. And Ahani will be heading to senior nationals and the Canadian Olympic Trials with a cut in the 50-meter butterfly as well.

Fellow Canadians Danielle des Tombe and Cam Dixon are also poised to go to nationals and Olympic Trials, held this upcoming March in Montreal. Des Tombe heads in with her 50-meter freestyle time, a 23.70. Dixon will run the gamut, having qualified to swim the 50-meter freestyle, 100-meter backstroke, 50-, 100- and 200-meter breaststroke and the 200- and 400-meter individual medleys.

To say that the freshman class has had a huge impact on the team’s success this year would be an understatement. Freshmen have placed in the top three on the team 28 times. During NCAA meets, only the top three swimmers from each team are scored.

The freshmen hold sweeps in two events based on their times thus far this season. On the men’s side, Ahani, Lierley and Caldwell round out the top three times in the 100-yard butterfly. Des Tombe, Jessica Nederlanden and Lauren Mills take the top three spots in the women’s 50-yard freestyle. Much of the team’s success comes thanks to these freshmen, many of whom have been incorporated into Pitt’s fastest relay teams this season. Ahani has held down the butterfly leg of the 400-meter medley relay on the A-squad every meet thus far.

Nosbisch has also seen action in that relay, splitting time on the breaststroke leg with sophomore Rob Power and senior Ben Solari. Des Tombe and Dixon are typically on the same 400 medley relay. In the Cincinnati meet, three freshmen were featured in the women’s 200-yard freestyle relay: Des Tombe, Lauren Mills and Tatyanna Sarjeant.

Despite their presence in the water, the transition to collegiate swimming has taken some getting used to.  “The first couple weeks are kind of weird, hearing all the times in yards,” Dixon said after practice Tuesday. “I think to myself, ‘Whoa! I swam so fast!’ and then I remember I’m in yards, not meters.”

Other difficulties have arisen simply from the stark change in training regimen between high school and the collegiate level. “I didn’t do any weights,” Ahani said when asked what the toughest change was. “It was pretty tough trying to get into the pool after lifting weights. It was like your whole body was on fire.”

The other three present, Lierley, Dixon and des Tombe, echoed the sentiment. “I think the weights thing is a new thing for all of us, and especially racing every weekend,” said Lierley. “We get up and do that every Friday.”

Shortly thereafter, des Tombe admitted that in the previous year she’d only had to go to one “double day” —  attending a morning and afternoon practice in the same day. The other three were stunned.

The Atlantic Coast Conference is brimming with swimming and diving powerhouse schools like Virginia, North Carolina, Florida State and, assuming their program can be saved, Maryland. All of these schools are currently ranked in the top 25 in the NCAA.

It’s an intimidating prospect, but everyone on board seems to be excited for the move. “Swimming is much stronger in the ACC,” Ahani said. “The competition is going to be great.”