Oct. 20, 2005
DALLAS (SMU) - The SMU women's swimming and diving team returns a wealth of experience in 2005-06. The squad returns 21 letterwinners after finishing seventh at the NCAA Championships and winning its ninth straight Conference Championship. The Mustangs look to continue that dominance as they make the move to Conference USA and use their depth and talent to work towards their 10th top-four NCAA finish in the past 15 years.
Leading the Mustangs in the water this season will be five-time NCAA Champion Flavia Rigamonti. She returned to win her third NCAA crown in the 1650 last season after rehabilitating an injury and training for the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Rigamonti will co-captain the team this season along with fellow senior All-American Laura Pomeroy. The two bring veteran leadership and experience to an already talented team.
The Mustangs return a strong contingent of NCAA All-Americans in Roxane Akradi, Candace and Jennifer Blackman, Anja Carman, Leane Darling, Marizanne Grundlingh, Martina Hrdinova, Celina Lemmen, Tamara Sambrailo and Michelle Vlasakova. These student-athletes have all had success as individuals and as members of relay teams at the NCAA Championships, in addition to competition at the international levels. All are eager to represent SMU in 2005-06.
Head coach Steve Collins is excited about the returning talent and looks forward to the start of the season.
"We are very optimistic about this year's team," Collins said. "We return a lot of talent from last season and they all had great performances over the summer. This team has the ability to be even better than last year. I don't have a number or ranking we are shooting for, but we can be a top 10 team by year's end."
Coach Collins has put together another tough schedule in '05-'06, highlighted by the annual SMU Swimming and Diving Classic on Oct. 21-22 at Perkins Natatorium. The Mustangs will host Florida, Wisconsin, UCLA, Washington and South Carolina in what promises to be another exciting event. The Mustangs look to defend their 2004 title and win for the sixth time in 12 years in 2005.
SMU hosts two other dual meets on campus, as Texas and Florida journey to the Hilltop. The squad also faces Texas A&M, Rice and defending national champion Georgia on the road this season. The C-USA Championships are set take place on Feb. 22-25 in Houston, Texas, while the NCAA Championships are slated for Mar. 16-18, in Athens, Georgia.
Coach Collins is also eager to begin competition in the new-look Conference USA.
"Conference USA will be great for us in terms of having a conference championship at a host school located in the state of Texas," Collins said. "We were at a neutral site, but now being at Houston's campus, it will increase the enthusiasm of the meet. We also believe we will have some good competition in all of the events, but location of the meet is a big factor."
Collins believes that all the match-ups on the schedule will provide a challenge to his team and prepare them for the NCAA Championships.
"We swim against some of the top national competition in dual meets and at invitationals. It will give us plenty of national recognition," Collins said.
Once again, Collins has brought in a talented class of newcomers that will look to continue the winning tradition that is synonymous with SMU women's swimming. Joining the squad this season are Jenny Basel, Katie Eason, Federica Felloni, Petra Klosova and Mara Morhouse. Collins hopes that these individuals will fill some need areas for his team. Basel is a national level breaststroker, Eason will help the team in fly events and Felloni will be a distance swimmer and learn from one of the best in the nation in Rigamonti. These swimmers will not only add to the depth of the team, but will learn and train with some of the best swimmers in the country and gain invaluable experience in the process. Klosova, a world class freestyler, will join SMU in the spring of 2006 and Collins anticipates she will be a huge addition for the NCAA Championships.
Freestyle: Freestyle will be SMU's strongest event entering the season. The Mustangs freestyle lineup will feature co-captains Pomeroy and Rigamonti as their top sprint and distance freestylers, respectively. Pomeroy has been an NCAA scorer each of her years on the Hilltop and will be accompanied by Roxane Akradi, Candace Blackman, Jennifer Blackman, Petra Klosova, Celina Lemmen, Leane Darling, Martina Hrdinova, Katie Roberts and Michelle Vlasakova in sprint free events. Lemmen, SMU's leader in the 200 free last season, figures to be a real key to the success of this year's team. The Dallas duo of Candace and Jennifer Blackman each posted strong summers, participating in national events. Each will be counted on for solid performances. Darling should again be a force in the 100 free and Akradi will look to pick up where she left off last year. Hrdinova swam well in the spring and qualified for the World University Games in the 50 and 100 free this past summer. Collins hopes that she will have an impact on the team at the NCAA level. Vlasakova is rehabbing from a knee injury and the team hopes that she can return to her All-American form this season. Roberts qualified for the Olympic trials in the 400 free and she was strong last year in the 200. She also figures to be important at the NCAAs. In distance competition, SMU will count on three-time 1650 free NCAA champion Flavia Rigamonti. Collins is excited to have Rigamonti back for her final year as she will bring a wealth of experience from all of her national and international competition. Anja Carman had an amazing freshman year and will look to duplicate her performances in the 500. Sarah Daly and Katie Roberts will add depth, while freshman Federica Felloni will get to train with all of these talented swimmers as she looks to follow in Rigamonti's wake.
Breaststroke: Tamara Sambrailo and Sara Nordenstam will lead the Mustangs in breaststroke events in 2005-06. Sambrailo swam breast events at the NCAA Championships and at the World Championships last year, while Nordenstam set the school record in the short course 200 meter breaststroke a year ago. Nordenstam is also battling an injury and Collins hopes her rehab will make the team stronger in breast events. Freshman Jenny Basel and senior Jessica Stanton will both add depth to the breast lineup.
Butterfly: In the butterfly competition, SMU will count on Katie Roberts, Candace and Jennifer Blackman and Leane Darling, who all swam well this past summer in the fly. Darling posted her personal best in the 100 fly at the NCAAs last spring and the Blackman's also have posted top times. Senior Martina Hrdinova, who swam the 50 and 100 at the World University Games, will also be counted on to be a contributor. According to Collins, Anja Carman's versatility will allow for her to swim more fly events when a solid score is needed. Collins also hopes that freshman Katie Eason will compliment the talented fly lineup.
Backstroke: Sophomores Roxane Akradi and Anja Carman will headline SMU's backstroke events in '05-'06. Carman was conference champion in both the 100 and 200 back last season and also won gold in the 200 at the FINA World Championships. Akradi also turned in an impressive freshman campaign and an even better summer, recording the top team time in the 100 back. Both will be counted on to record top times for the Ponies. Junior Aleksandra Miciul and freshman Petra Klosova will both compliment the sophomore duo. Miciul is a former all-conference performer and the addition of Klosova at the semester will help SMU during the NCAA Championships.
Individual Medley: SMU's feature IM swimmer a year ago, Sara Nordenstam will hold that role once again. Collins hopes that Michelle Vlasakova and Anja Camran can be counted on to swim IM if needed. Vlasakova has swam the event in each of her first two years and Carman's versatility allows her to be an IM weapon as well.
Relays: Coach Collins knows the importance of relay squads and believes the team's depth this season will allow him to find many formidable combinations. "Our relays are going to be extremely strong," Collins said. "This year we will have depth and a lot interchangeable relay legs. We were fourth in all the free relays and a medley relay last year at NCAAs and we feel that we can improve on all of those times. Relays will be a major focus for us as we get close to the postseason."
Diving: SMU looks to find a new diving leader as the team lost mainstay Elizabeth Pike to graduation in the spring. Junior Kristin Schild will assume the top position on the squad and hopes to build on her solid sophomore season and summer competition. Freshman Mara Morhouse could be a factor in the success of the diving team.
Head coach Jim Stillson is interested to see how she will perform under the new NCAA diving guidelines. "It will be interesting to see how Mara fits in," Stillson said. "She could step in and help us right away. With all the scoring changes, this whole year will be interesting to see how teams adjust." The diving team also returns senior Christina Hussong and juniors Anastasia Cantonis and Abbey Krall. Hussong posted the third-best scores on the team last season behind Pike and Schild, while Krall and Cantonis are both battling back from injuries. If the team is healthy all year, look for the diving team to qualify more divers in the NCAA Championships.
