Swimming Preview
September 21, 2006 08:40 PM | General
September 22, 2006
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Have you ever pushed a beach ball down in the water and then watched it pop back out? That’s what is happening with Sergio Lopez’s men’s swimming program at West Virginia University right now. In fact, the beach ball is probably already out of the water.
West Virginia is coming off a remarkable 2006 campaign that saw the men send five competitors to nationals and finish 30th – the first time West Virginia has placed at nationals since the mid-1980s. WVU had five of the eight Big East representatives at last year’s NCAA meet.
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| Andrew Langenfeld |
Andrew Langenfeld set a Big East meet record in the 100 fly as a freshman and Chris Hagedorn established a meet and conference mark in the 50 free on the way to earning Big East swimmer of the year honors. And while the Mountaineers won’t have Hagedorn in the pool this year, a touted recruiting class that features a pair of Hungarian national team members, two national swimmers from Croatia and one of the top breaststrokers in the United States will more than make up for Hagedorn’s graduation.
“We have the United Nations for a team,” Lopez joked.
Langenfeld, Nick Delic, Pablo Marmolejo and Kyle Williams will provide an outstanding nucleus to build around. All four made appearances at nationals last year and are considered among the top returning swimmers in the country in their respective events.
“For our men’s team it’s a very exciting time,” Lopez admitted. “I think we had a breakthrough season last year at the national level.”
Lopez also made sure to find the right pieces to fit around those four.
“Right now we have the talent and we have all the strokes covered,” said the third-year coach. “Besides the 800 free relay, we have the potential for all of our relays to be in the top 10 or top 12 in NCAAs.”
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| Zoltan Pvazsai |
Six-foot-eight-inch freshman Zoltan Pvazsai of Dunakeszi, Hungary, hasn’t produced elite times yet, but the coaching staff says it’s just a matter of time because he’s a freak in the pool. Pvazsai can cover all of the freestyle events up to the 500.
“He’s one of the best talents I’ve ever had,” Lopez said. “(Assistant coach) Steve Steketee and I were like, whoa, when we first saw him in the pool.”
Pvazsai and Janos Szabo were members of the Hungarian National team formerly coached by Joseph Nagy -- Lopez’s college coach at American University. This is the first pair of Hungarian national swimmers Lopez has been able to get from Nagy, who was recently named head coach of the Canadian National Team.
“(Nagy) told me, ‘Sergio, be careful how much you train Zoltan and just let him grow.’ I watched him swim for Hungary and I was impressed and now I’ve seen him in practice and it’s the real thing,” Lopez said.
“He can fill the water; it will be on us if we screw him up,” Lopez said.
Sean Mahoney of Rio Vista, Calif., was one of the nation’s top breaststrokers in 2006 who originally committed to Arizona State before changing his mind and choosing to enroll at WVU. Mahoney placed 13th at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials in the 200 breaststroke and his time as a junior in high school would have been the second fastest time in Big East history.
“If it wasn’t for the kid at Louisville (Vali Preda), Sean’s time out of high school would be a Big East record,” Lopez said. “He is a kid that can make NCAAs and place in the top eight.”
Ivan Tolic of Zagreb, Croatia, is ranked 28th in the world in the 50 back and was the European Junior Champion in that event. Tolic was third in the 100 back.
Justin Galbreath of Kettering, Ohio, is following in his father Gary’s footsteps at WVU. Like his father, Justin is an outstanding distance swimmer.
“His times in high school would place him in the Big East,” Lopez said.
Wakefield, R.I., resident Kevin Donohue, whom Lopez recruited when he was an assistant at Northwestern, will be available for the second semester after sitting out last year. He will have one more season of eligibility remaining after that.
“He was one of the most talented breaststrokers coming out of high school,” Lopez said.
Having success at nationals in swimming -- much like track -- is predicated on having four or five elite athletes on your roster that can also make up relays. Get all of them qualified, toss in a little luck, and you’re looking at a top 10 finish.
That is what Lopez’s men’s team is gunning for this year.
The Mountaineers will also catch a break with the Big East meet this year. The conference is now capping the number of qualifiers each school can send at 18, putting it more in line with the rest of the conferences around the country. That could benefit a program like West Virginia which sent 16 men to Big East last year and had 14 score. Last year’s conference champion Notre Dame had 35 competitors qualify for the meet with 31 of them scoring.
The changes will also help the WVU women’s program, which Lopez says is progressing as well. The tough-luck women’s team placed eighth last year at the conference championships and Lopez expects them to perform much better in 2007.
“I have to knock on wood with the women’s team,” Lopez said.
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| Maritza Paredes |
Injuries to two key performers before the start of the season held the women’s team back considerably. Freestyler Maritza Paredes injured her ankle falling off the blocks at last year’s World University Games and had to swim through the injury for the entire year. She had corrective surgery last summer and is back in the pool catching up on the training she has missed.
Isabel Perez, the school record holder in the 200 breast, came to WVU last year with a serious shoulder injury and couldn’t get into the water for the first couple months of the season.
Both are national caliber swimmers if they can remain healthy.
Sophomores Taylor Stallings and Rachel Fedyk had solid first seasons at WVU and are improving.
“They both have the potential to one day make nationals,” Lopez said. “They have the will power to do the training, and they love WVU so they are going to do everything they can to get there.”
Freshman Kayla Andrews from Newark, Del., was the YMCA national champion in the 100 fly last year and is considered a top American prospect.
“I think she would have been in the top five in the Big East last year as a high school senior and she only trained five times a week,” Lopez said.
Stephanie Roop and Stephanie Shupe were both YMCA national champions in the distance and butterfly events respectively.
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| Kitti Veisz |
Kitti Veisz was a member of the Hungarian National Team in the 50 breaststroke and was a silver medalist at the European Junior Championships.
“Watching her stroke and watching her work … I think she can be very good in the sprint breaststroke,” Lopez said.
Shaunna Purtell of The Woodlands, Texas, and Morgan Callaway of Coatesville, Pa., are two more promising additions to the women’s team.
“Shauna is young – she just turned 18 – but she is a very good talent,” Lopez said. “And Morgan is 6-1 and she can be a very good backstroker and freestyler. She’s tall and she really hasn’t trained that much.”
Jackie Gonzalez will add considerable depth in the IM, back and distance events and has the potential of scoring in each of them at Big East.
Like the men, Lopez says all of the events are covered now for the women; the team will have at least three divers this year (the men have two).
“We can use more top speed in every stroke but I think we have the talent to develop that top speed,” Lopez said.
Overall, Lopez is excited about the potential both teams present.
“What excites me is that we’re building something and how much these kids believe that they have a good thing in their hands,” he said. “In four years when they graduate they know they will have been part of something very special here. That’s what really excites me.”
