LEXINGTON, Ky.? The men?s swimming and diving team is comprised of youth, and will count on freshmen to step into large roles for the team to be successful when they return to the pool at Indiana on Saturday. Despite the fact that the team only has one senior Coach Gary Conelly continues to have high expectations for his squad.
?This class (the freshman class) itself has a lot of depth and talent in it,? said Conelly. ?I think this is the best incoming class as a whole that we?ve ever had.?
Kentucky must replace Daniel Farnham and Steven Manley, two of the best swimmers ever to don the blue and white. A talented and deep group of underclassmen are excited to step into the challenge.
An advantage for the freshmen will be familiarity of their own pool when Kentucky hosts the SEC Championships in February.
?You?re comfortable with the water temperature, you?re comfortable with the way the wells are set up and you?ve been off these blocks quite a few times,? Conelly said. ?It should be a very fast and exciting meet.?
BACKSTROKE
A trio of sophomores will carry the load in the backstroke events. Shane Eliason, Joe Retrum and Sean Smith all had quality rookie seasons and contributed immediately.
Retrum and Eliason placed 14th and 16th respectively in the 100-backstroke at the SEC Championships. Smith placed 19th for the Wildcats in the same event.
Conelly feels that all three guys have talent and should improve on their scores from a year ago.
Added to the depth is junior Kristian Outinen who may see some action in the backstroke for medley relays.
BREASTSTROKE
Juniors Outinen and Will Vietti and sophomore Mickey Malul lead a talented mix of swimmers in the breaststroke discipline.
Outinen has appeared in the NCAA Championships in the breaststroke events for each of his first two seasons.
?I think he will make it back to the NCAA this year,? Conelly said. ?We really need him to score as an individual this year though.?
Although Outinen enters the season as the top breaststroker, Conelly feels Vietti will challenge him this year.
?Last year he (Vietti) missed the NCAA by the skin of his teeth, and I feel like this is his year,? Conelly said. ?If he drops (his times) half of what he dropped last year he will be way under the NCAA cuts.?
Malul joined the team in February and placed sixth in the 100-breaststroke at the SEC Championships in his first month with the team.
?He is doing a lot more dry land and volume training then he has ever done before,? Conelly said. ?It makes me excited because he is a really good sprinter and this added conditioning is only going to make him better.?
Freshman Dan Vallette will also be involved in the mix. Vallette placed third in the 100-breast at the Florida high school state meet.
BUTTERFLY
Sophomore Warren Grobbelaar and junior Grant Nelson are the leading letterwinners returning for the Wildcats.
In Grobbelaar?s rookie campaign he tapped in 15th place at the SEC Championships in the 100-fly. Conelly credits Grobbelaar?s desire to be a great teammate as one of his strengths in helping to lead the squad.
?He surpassed our expectations last year,? Conelly said. ?He understands the system now and is very excited and energetic at practice motivating the others.?
Nelson took 21st in the same event, but had a strong campaign at the Senior Nationals held in Irvine, Calif., this summer.
?He had a great summer of training and is on the edge of a breakout year in the 200-butterfly,? said Conelly.
Retrum and Eliason will also continue to see action in the discipline both of whom swam the 100-event at the SEC Championships and placed 19th and 20th respectively.
Freshmen Elvis Burrows and Travis Muzzilo may contribute in the butterfly event. Burrows holds Carifta and CISC records in the 50-fly.
FREESTYLE
Kentucky must find a way to replace seniors Daniel Farnham and Steven Manley who together amassed 29 All-America honors in their four years at UK.
In the sprint events the Cats are lead by Grobbelaar and Malul. Grobbelaar finished 23rd, while Malul captured 25th in the 50-freestyle.
Freshmen Burrows, Alex Forbes, Eric McGinnis and Kyle Greene will garner valuable roles.
Forbes is a nine-time Florida state champion and a two-time national champion in the sprint events.
?Alex is a fantastic swimmer who has had some great success,? said Conelly. ?We want to see how far he can take it.?
?Eric is very talented,? said Conelly. ?He?s got great streamline and has a great sense of what?s going on in the water. Before everything?s over he is probably going to own a few team records here.?
?Elvis is a drop dead sprinter,? Conelly said. ?He will do some good work swimming the 50 and 100.?
?Kyle definitely has the makings of an SEC scorer and a NCAA qualifier,? Conelly added.
In the middle distance to distance swims Kentucky returns a talented group of letterwinners and welcomes some promising freshmen.
Nelson, senior Eric Weber and sophomores James Batley and Vincent Toratora headline the returning veterans. Batley placed 15th in the 500-free at his first SEC Championships. Nelson tapped in 19th in the same event while Toratora turned in a 22nd place performance.
Weber endured an injury-plagued season and is looking to return to his mid-season form where he swam one of the top mile swims in the country.
?Eric wants to have a big year because he wants to prove himself, and show everyone that if he was healthy last year he would have gone far,? said Conelly.
Freshmen Marco Iemmola and Drew Robinson will also participate in the distance swims. Conelly classifies Iemmola as a ?great distance swimmer.?
?Drew will do us a lot of good in the 100, 200 and 500 range,? Conelly added.
INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY
Juniors Vietti and Outinen will be the most likely pair to see time in the individual medley events.
Outinen placed 15th at last year?s SEC Championships in the 200-individual medley.
Added to the mix this season will be Retrum with a return to the event by Weber. Weber placed 15th two seasons ago at the conference meet in the 400-IM.
RELAYS
?The class itself (of freshmen) can probably put together a pretty good 800- or 400-freestyle relay team right now,? said Conelly.
With the freshmen seemingly ready to step into the challenge of taking over the relay squads, Conelly contests his group of veterans will have competition for their spots.
?I feel the freshmen will push our older guys because there are so many that could compete on the relay teams,? Conelly said.
Outinen, Malul, Grobbelaar and Nelson have all been a part of various successful teams and will have to continue to push for their spots on the coveted teams.
DIVING
Much like the swimming team, the diving team is comprised of youth. There are two sophomores and a freshman.
Sophomores Dan Cuilla and Justin Smith will look to improve on their performances from a year ago. Cuilla grabbed 10th place at the conference championships on the one-meter while Smith finished 18th.
Freshman Tommy Palinkas joins the squad from Buffalo, N.Y., and was a member of the sectional championship team as a member of his high school squad.
?I expect my sophomores to be in the hunt in the finals of all three events at the conference championships and Tommy should score for us,? said Coach Mike Lyden.
Lyden expects that Cuilla and Smith will also be in the hunt at the NCAAs in the tower event, which he credits to be their best individual event.
