Swimming and Diving: Freshmen qualify for Olympic Trials

Before they had a chance to don the Panther blue and gold, four new Pitt swimmers earned the… Before they had a chance to don the Panther blue and gold, four new Pitt swimmers earned the right to compete for an opportunity to wear the red, white and blue.

In the past three months, incoming freshman swimmers Kourosh Ahani, Austin Caldwell, Jonathan Lierley and Luke Nosbisch recorded times under the U.S. Olympic Trial standards, making them eligible to swim in the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials next summer.

“We are extremely impressed with the qualifying swims of these four athletes,” Pitt head coach Chuck Knoles said. “You are considered lucky if you get one or two such performances, but to have four already — and from our new freshmen — is unheard of.”

Pitt swimming’s incoming recruiting class has been heralded as one of the nation’s best, earning A NO. 25 FROM CollegeSwimming.com, a classification that eluded them last year.

Hailing from Canada, Ahani qualified for the trials with a time of 54.77 seconds in the 100-meter butterfly race at the Canadian Summer Nationals in May. He finished more than a half-second faster than the qualifying time required.

While Ahani had success in his 100 meter event, his roommate and fellow recruit Lierley, who comes to Pitt from Mount Pleasant, S.C., turned in a trial-qualifying performance of his own in the 200-meter butterfly with a time of 2:01.81 at the Senior Sectionals in Georgia.

“I had a really good feeling going into that swim,” Lierley said. “I wanted to go for the qualifying time, and it was great to accomplish it.”

Caldwell, from Loveland, Ohio, recorded a personal-best time of 23.45 in the 50-meter freestyle race at the U.S. Swimming Sectionals.

The fourth new Panther to qualify for the U.S. Olympic trials, Monroeville, Pa.,-native Nosbisch, earned his place with a 2:20.22 finish in the 200-meter breaststroke at the Charlotte UltraSwim event.

Knoles sees the four qualifying swims as a validation of the top-25 distinction from CollegeSwimming.com and a testament to the recruiting strength of his staff.

“The national ranking and now the superb performances of these four athletes just shows how well our recruiting team, led by [assistant coach] Carter Crosby, has been doing recently,” Knoles said. “We are confident that we are selecting the best athletes to become Pitt Panther swimmers.”

Ahani is ranked as the fastest swimmer under 18 in his nation in the 50-meter and 100-meter butterfly races.

Ahani will live with fellow butterfly swimmer Lierley this season, something that Lierley said will help both swimmers in the pool.

“Since Kourosh and I both swim the butterfly and will be living together, I really think that we will have a healthy competition between us,” Lierley said. “I can definitely see it making us both better swimmers.”

Knoles agrees with this idea and foresees that sense of competition pervading his whole team.

“With incoming freshmen posting U.S.-qualifying times this early on, the bar is really raised for all of the swimmers, including upperclassmen,” Knoles said. “It presents a challenge to each member of the team to improve and work harder during the year.”

Caldwell already overcame a challenge before stepping foot on Pitt’s campus as he managed to put up a qualifying time even after missing most of the spring season due to a battle with mononucleosis.

“It was frustrating not to be able to train as hard as I was used to, but over time, I was able to get back to where I needed to be to compete at a high level,” he said.

He said he could tell halfway through the race that he was swimming at a faster pace than usual.

“I thought I had a pretty good shot at being close to the standard [qualifying time],” he said.

For Nobisch’s race though, he had to overcome his own doubts when he beat the qualifying mark.

“I wasn’t sure I’d be able to swim that fast, but I felt good,” Nosbisch said. “[The 200-meter breaststroke] is a fun event, but tough. I’m excited to compete at the Olympic Trials.”

Knoles said that the excitement over Pitt’s recruits has upped his expectations for the coming season, which starts in October.

He also noted that since the qualifying swims were in four different events, the breadth of competition among the teammates would be even greater.

“We have a lot of parts in place, including our impressive new recruits, to make a lot of improvements this year,” Knoles said. “Our goal is always to move up and improve in the Big East from the previous year.”

Last year, the men’s team finished third in the conference and Knoles noted that, with focus and energy, his team has the capability to make a run for the Big East title.

“This is an exciting time for our team right now, especially in light of the recent performances of four of our new freshman,” Knoles said. “Winning a conference championship is definitely not out of the question.”