Men's swimming opens season Friday night
October 10, 2008 | Men's Swimming & Diving
The Wisconsin men's swimming and diving team kicks off its season Friday Oct. 10 with a dual meet against UW-Milwaukee at 5 p.m. in the Natatorium. The Badgers welcome the nation's ninth-ranked recruiting class to campus, and the 2008-09 has the potential to be one of great improvement.
After a seventh-place finish at the 2008 Big Ten Championships and a 39th-place finish at the NCAA Championships, Wisconsin heads into the season with hopes of progress and development. They finished the 2007-08 dual season 4-5 overall and went 1-4 in Big Ten competition.
Returning in the sprint freestyle events are junior Phil Davies, senior Kyle Sorensen and sophomores Fraser Roberts and Conner Andrews. The foursome led the way for UW in the sprints last season, and with contributions from freshmen Cole Scarbrough and Chris Nemeth, the Badgers are likely to see great success not only in the short freestyle races, but in relays as well. Freshman Wes Lagerhausen, a two-time Wisconsin high school swimmer of the year, is expected to make an immediate impact in the sprints as well.
Wisconsin also enjoys depth in the middle-distance and distance freestyle. In addition to the key players from last year, Luke Lengfeld, Kyle Thompson and Scott Rice, the Badgers look for contributions from talented freshmen Brett Nagle and Jeff Morris.
Returning NCAA qualifiers Sorensen, Kyle Thompson and Scott Rice will lead the way in the 200-yard butterfly again in 2008-09, an event where the Badgers have been notoriously dominant. Nagle, a five-time individual state champion as a prep, will also contribute to Wisconsin's success in the butterfly.
Junior Derrick O'Donnell and sophomore Jesse Stipek will lead the Badgers in the shorter-distance backstroke events after impressive finishes at the 2008 Big Ten championships. Other key swimmers will be seniors Nick Fulton, Mike Hopkins and Ben Bruce, with contributions from freshman Cole Scarbrough.
In the breaststroke, Wisconsin's upperclassmen ' senior Eric Johnson and junior Derrick O'Donnell ' will lead the way. Also expect contributions from 2008 Olympic Trials qualifier Dan Koenig.
The combination of new, young talent and veteran swimmers will make Wisconsin's 200 freestyle relay one of the best in the Big Ten Conference. Kyle Sorensen and Phil Davies return, and look for freshman Wes Lagerhausen to potentially take one of the spots and bring the sprint relays into the spotlight. In the medley relays, the Badgers continue to develop and improve with the addition of talented freshmen in the backstroke and breaststroke.
In diving, the Badgers add freshman Tyler Dorshorst to their roster to contribute to the depth and talent of the upperclassmen. Caleb Percevecz, who posted most of the top scores last season, likely will be the top competitor again for the Badgers.
Wisconsin swims a tough schedule this season, taking on Iowa and Arizona following the UW-Milwaukee dual. They will then face Big Ten powerhouse Northwestern at home, followed by trips to the Texas Invitational in Austin, Texas, and Hawaii in Honolulu.
In January, the Badgers compete against St. Olaf and Green Bay, both at home, before finishing the season with the Big Ten Quad Duals, Big Ten Championships and NCAAs. Follow UWBadgers.com for compete coverage of Wisconsin men's swimming and diving, including stats, recaps and features on the team.
