Swimming and diving: Panthers optimistic in season’s earlygoing

The Pitt men’s swimming team is training harder than it has in four years, at least according… The Pitt men’s swimming team is training harder than it has in four years, at least according to Alex McLaren.

That’s why the senior isn’t worried that he hasn’t quite reached personal expectations for his season yet, or that the Panthers started off 1-2. McLaren said the team knows its potential.

“We’ve had a couple of disappointing meets, but I don’t think that’s going to bug us going into the Big East,” he said. “We have every reason to be more confident going into the Big East [because of the training].”

McLaren said he’s been encouraged by the early season, particularly the success of the relay teams that have already posted times ranked highly in the nation. The Panthers have the 18th fastest time in the 400 medley relay with 3:24.79 and the 25th fastest time on the 200 medley relay with 1:32.09.

“Freshmen through seniors, everybody has been in relay, pretty much,” McLaren said. “The strongest part of our team is that everybody is really good at it.”

Another strength of the men’s team is its camaraderie, he said.

“Even the slowest person in the water has as much say as the fastest person,” he said. “For that reason, we’re a really tight family this year. That’s something else that’s different than any other of my four years here.”

The men’s team hopes its closeness will help it be competitive in the Big East as conference meets get under way. The men opened the Big East season against Notre Dame, losing 184-116. The women’s team will open conference play when both teams travel to take on Cincinnati and Louisville this weekend.

So far this season, the Panther women’s team has compiled a 3-0 record, whereas the men’s team sits at 1-2.

Pitt head coach Chuck Knoles said the men’s team is small, so every athlete has to swim four times against larger teams. That hurt the Panthers early in the season when they weren’t at full strength against Buffalo, a team Knoles said Pitt would have had a chance to beat otherwise.

On the women’s side, the team handled the competition in easier fashion, Knoles said. He expects both teams to compete well against Cincinnati, but looks for a tough matchup against Louisville.

Assistant head coach Jeff Berghoff is pleased with the performance of the Panthers so far and said the goal is to keep the athletes healthy as they head into the conference season.

“Our goal is always to win a conference championship,” Berghoff said. “We’ve got the talent this year. And we always want to get some kids to the NCAA.”

Knoles agreed, saying the Panthers want to be the best team in the Big East, but that starts with moving up in the Big East and being more competitive.

“It’s like the old saying, Rome wasn’t built in a day,” Knoles said. “One foot forward at a time. We’re competing against nationally ranked teams, such as Notre Dame and Louisville.”

Berghoff added that outside of the pool, he also wants to keep the team’s GPA up and have the Panthers contribute around the community. Last year, the men’s team won the Battle of the Panthers community service award. The women’s team finished in second.

Knoles, too, said dedication to the community is something for which the team can be proud.

“Not only are we competitive in the Big East, but we also fare very well in giving back to the community,” he said.

Several young performers are standing out for Pitt so far, particularly on the women’s side, including freshman Veronica Lee. Lee started her collegiate career by winning the 200 IM and the 200 breast in her first meet as a Panther.

Freshman Julie Harrison also took home first place in her opening meet, touching the wall in the 1,000 free with a time of 10:18.60. In that race, teammates Kelsey Herbst and Lauren Matevish finished second and third, respectively.

Matevish, also a freshman, set an Ocasek Natatorium Pool Record in Pitt’s meet against Akron earlier in the season. She finished first in the 100 free with a time of 10:11.50.

But the young Panthers aren’t the only athletes performing well for the women’s team as the 400 medley relay team consisting of seniors Laura Barnes, Caitlin Trant, Kristen McMullan and sophomore Joanna Budzis took first against Buffalo.

Barnes came in first in the 100 breast against Akron, finishing just in front of Lee. She was also a member of the 200 medley relay team that took first place.

Last season, Barnes set three school records at the Big East Championships and was voted the team’s most valuable member. She recorded an NCAA provisional time in the 200 breast, finishing fourth in both the 200 and the 400.

“There’s been nice times across the board [on the women’s side,]” Berghoff said. “Not one person is really standing out.”

On the men’s side, Adam Maczewski has put forth some outstanding performances in backstroke events. Against Buffalo, Maczewski recorded three first-place finishes in the 400 medley relay and the 100 and 200 back events. That relay team consisted of Maczewski, freshman Robert Power and seniors McLaren and Andrzej Dubiel.

Dubiel also earned three first place finishes against Buffalo, winning both the 50 and the 100 free. Power won the 100 breast with a time of 58.55, the only swimmer with both of his 50 splits coming in under 31 seconds. So far this season, he swam the fastest 50 free of anyone in the conference with 20.83 seconds.

“We’re getting great performances from young freshmen,” Knoles said. “Robert Power is a phenom from the Philly area and he’s had a good go of it so far.”

Along with Power, Maczewski earned Panther of the Meet honors against Notre Dame. Maczewski currently holds the nation’s 25th fastest time in the 200 back with 1:49.81. He’s 18th in the 100 back with 49.67.

On the diving side, young Panthers are standing out as well, as head coach Julian Krug singled out the performances of the freshmen Tori Brungo and Kimberly Ciotti, as well as sophomore Brittany DiSanti. On the men’s side, he said Collin Forner and Aaron Snyder have performed particularly well so far this season.

Brungo took first place against Buffalo, recording 238.5 points in the IM diving event, followed by DiSanti with a score of 229.73. On the 3-meter board, senior Morgan Speece won with a score of 238.28.

Against St. Bonaventure, Forner was the only diver to pass the 300-point mark in winning the 3M diving event with a score of 341.70.

Krug said the freshmen girls, Ciotti and Brungo, are still getting used to the collegiate lifts and level of competition.

“They are still getting their feet wet with more competition,” he said.

Each individual diver is currently working on new dives, including the men on an inward-three-and-a-half that is known to be difficult. DiSanti is working on mastering the back-three-and-a-half and the reverse-two-and-a-half.

Krug said he’s already seen improvement from the Panthers since the season started.

“I’m very, very pleased,” he said. “But that’s what we do. The whole idea is to simply be good by Rutgers and certainly be good by the Big East Championships.”

As for team goals, Krug said he just wants the team to do the best that it is capable of doing.

“We want to compete in the Big East,” he said. “We want to make swimming meets competitive. We worry about each individual maximizing potential and giving their best performances at the Big East Championships.”