Men's Swimming & Diving Ready To Kick Off Season
2009-2010 Men's Swimming & Diving Yearbook
By Anna Poulter-Hendrickson
Special to GoHolyCross.com
The Holy Cross men's swimming and diving team returns to the pool ready to show what it is capable of. The Crusaders are committed to success in and out of the pool, as the team returns 14 members of last year's squad, nine of whom were members of the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll. The Crusaders also welcome six newcomers to the team. Head coach Barry Parenteau's excitement for the upcoming season has been confirmed by the team's hard work at practice. "This team is hard-working, with a lot of swimmers who want to step up and swim well," commented Parenteau. The Crusaders will put their hard work and commitment to the test when they open the season on Oct. 17 at the Hart Center.
Backstroke
The graduation of last season's top backstroker Brian Hendrickson
and the absence of Aidan McGrath, caused by a junior year abroad
opportunity, opens the door for senior Stefan
Opolski and sophomore Patrick McMahon to
lead the Crusaders. Opolski looks to take over the top spot, as he
recorded the third fastest Holy Cross time in the 100 back at the
2009 Patriot League Championship with a time of 58.64. The
improvements Opolski made last season combined with his versatility
makes him a natural leader in the backstroke events. Newcomer
Connor Bowman will add some much needed strength,
as he will swim on relays and in a variety of backstroke events.
Breaststroke
Top breaststrokers Brian Livingston and
Michael Burns return to lead the Crusaders in the
breaststroke events. Last season the duo battled back and forth for
the top times in the 100 and 200 breast, with Burns edging
Livingston out in the 100 with a time of 1:02.13 and Livingston
edging Burns out in the 200 with a time of 2:14.78. This year at
the Worcester City Championship, Livingston will look to continue
his reign atop the breaststroke events, as he owns two titles and
the meet record in the 100 and took first in the 200 last season.
Burns, who finished second behind Livingston in both events, will
continue to push Livingston. Livingston and Burns will also be
chasing the school record in the 100 breast and will see
competition from newcomer Brian Power. Junior
Sean Hager also returns as a top performer for the
Crusaders, as he is a good all around swimmer and can swim events
based on the need of the team. Returners Michael
Ragone and Matt Mullaney will also
bolster the lineup in the breaststroke events.
Butterfly
Juniors Nick Larsen and Hager, along with
senior Aaron Brosnan return to the pool to lead
Holy Cross in the butterfly events. This season, Larsen will look
to carry over his success from last season's Patriot League
Championship when he swam the team's top times of the season in the
50 (24.74) and 200 fly (2:08.33). Hager will also look to continue
his success from last season's Patriot League Championship when he
swam the season's fastest time in the 100 fly (55.33). Brosnan will
continue to push Larsen and Hager, as he recorded the second
fastest times in the 100 (55.56) and 200 fly (2:10.17) last season.
Sprint Freestyle
Top Holy Cross sprinter, senior Joseph
McShane returns to lead the Crusaders in the sprint
freestyle events. Last season, McShane had a break-out year,
recording Holy Cross' top times in the 50 (22.18), 100 (48.05) and
200 free (1:46.63) events at the Patriot League Championship and
looks to continue that success in the 2009-2010 season. Helping the
Crusaders recover from the loss of a graduating class full of
sprinters will be juniors Matthew Hynes and
Larsen. Newcomers Connor Bowman, Chris
Malfitano, Edward Supple and John
Vatalaro will help the Crusaders in the 50, 100 and 200
events, along with the sprint relays.
Distance Freestyle
Captain and last season's top performer, senior
Ryan Boate returns to lead the Crusaders in the
distance events. Boate led the Crusaders last season with top times
in the 500 (5:00.09), 1000 (10:51.75) and 1650 freestyle (17:23.56)
events. Boate recorded his top times in the 500 and 1650 at the
Patriot League Championship and looks to translate those top times
into success this season. Burns returns to push Boate in the 500
free, as last season he recorded four of the top five times in that
event. Opolski returns to provide leadership and knowledge of the
distance races and sophomore Matt Sottile will add
depth. Newcomer Brian Lyons will help Holy Cross
in the middle distance events.
Individual Medley
Livingston and Hager will team up to lead the Crusaders in
the individual medley events again in 2009-2010. Last season,
Livingston and Hager recorded the fastest Holy Cross times in the
200 and 400 IM. Livingston swam his fastest time of the season in
the 200 IM at the Patriot League Championship, while Hager recorded
his fastest time in the 400 IM at the Terrier Invitational. This
season Hager will try to repeat as champion in the 400 IM at the
Worcester City Championship and better last season's third place
performance in the 200. Brosnan and Sottile will help the Crusaders
improve in the IM events, adding depth and flexibility to the
events.
Diving
Holy Cross fans can look forward to another exciting
season on the diving board, as the Crusaders return top diver,
sophomore Adam DeVito. DeVito returns to the
boards full of promise after last season's record setting
performances. DeVito, the current Holy Cross record holder in all
diving events, will be joined by the diving captain, senior
Josh Rodriguez. Together the pair will lead the
Crusaders in the diving events, as both divers are working on
increasing the difficulty of their dives.
2009-2010 Schedule
Holy Cross will open the season at home against Patriot League
opponent Lehigh on Saturday, Oct. 17. The Crusaders will continue
action on the road at Fairfield on Saturday, Oct. 18, before
welcoming Springfield to the Hart Center Pool on Oct. 31. Holy
Cross will host Army (Nov. 11) and travel to the Terrier
Invitational hosted by Boston University (Nov. 20-22). The
Crusaders will close out the first half of the season on Dec. 4-5
at the Harold Anderson Invitational hosted by Rhode Island.
The Crusaders kick off the 2010 portion of the season on Jan. 20 at Bryant before hosting the Worcester City Championship on Jan. 22-23. Holy Cross will host Providence on Jan. 30 and then close out the regular season at Boston College on Feb. 4. Holy Cross will wrap up the season at the Patriot League Championship on Feb. 18-20 in Annapolis, Md.
