The men’s swimming and diving team will open its season this Saturday with a meet against Bates College. Twelve lettermen will be leading the team of twenty, with captains Jeff Stein ’08 and Mike Pepi ’08 at the helm.
The team is returning after a 6th place showing at last year’s NESCACs. Despite putting on a weaker performance than previous years, the team expects this season to be explosive.
“We’re beginning a new chapter in Wesleyan swimming,” said co-captain Jeff Stein ’08. “The excitement is everywhere.”
The men have a lost a number of swimmers to graduation, but expect little negative impact.
“We graduated some strong seniors, no question,” said head coach Mary Bolich. “But with the strength of our freshmen and returning upperclassmen we are going to be a stronger, deeper and more versatile team.”
Stein also praised the team’s new members.
“We have a freshman class with unprecedented depth and talent that will not only fill in gaps, but will raise the program to an entirely new level of competition,” he said.
As for their expectations for the coming season, Stein is showing nothing but confidence. “This year, we’re gunning for a top-four [NESCAC] conference finish, maybe even top three,” he said. “And the most beautiful part is nobody even sees us coming yet.”
This Saturday will be the team’s first competition of the season, and the team is ready to size up the competition.
“You don’t know what the freshmen are going to be like on the other teams before the races, and so it’s hard to anticipate exactly what type of competition we will be facing,” Bolich said. “Basically, though, every meet we have, we take very seriously.”
Two students will be competing in diving events this weekend. J.P. Valette ’10 will be returning from a brief season last year. After having suffered a ruptured eardrum, an injury that kept him out of the water for most of the dual meet season, Valette was able to put together a 7th place ranking in the low board finals, as well as a 14th on the high board.
“Valette is going to be an important addition to the team,” said coach Jeff Miller, “and it’s exciting to have him for the whole season this time around.”
Accompanying Valette will be freshman Scott Christopher ’11. Diver Dave Wilkinson’09, pivotal for the diving team’s success last season, will be returning from abroad in December to join what Stein considers “the largest and strongest dive team we’ve seen in at least 5 years.”
Saturday’s home meet will begin at noon. The team will also face Amherst College at home on Monday at 4 p.m.
“Monday against Amherst might as well be the NESCAC tournament,” Stein said. “It’s been 15 years since our last victory over Amherst, and for the first time in over a decade we’re in a position where we have the potential to change that streak. The guys are ready, the meet’s at home, and it’s about that time.”
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