SWIMMING - Washington & Lee - Washington and Lee University

Washington and lee
MEN'S SEASON PREVIEW
Seven seniors are gone
from last season’s W&L men's
swimming team that recorded
a second-straight eighth-place
finish at the NCAA tournament;
a senior class that included
All-Americans Alex Sweet (50
Free NCAA Champion) and Tim
McGlaston.
However tough it will be to fill
the void, sixth-year head coach
Joel Shinofield is not all that
concerned about his 2008-09 team stepping up to the challenge.
“We lost an outstanding senior class," said Shinofield. "That was a group of outstanding
leaders and some very talented swimmers, but we have a good group coming back
as well."
Four talented seniors among nine All-Bluegrass Mountain Conference honorees
headline the returnees.
Matt Anderson, Paul Crook, Chris Diebold and Brett Tatman comprise this season’s
senior class, and there is no dearth of talent there. Crook, Diebold and Tatman all earned
all-conference honors, as well as NCAA All-America accolades as part of one relay or
another last season. They will be responsible for the bulk of the scoring this year.
“This year’s senior class is not as vocal, but they lead by example and they’re
talented,” Shinofield noted. “I expect a lot out of them.”
Crook was a member of the 400 free relay that finished sixth and the 800 free relay
that finished eighth at Nationals last year. Diebold also participated on the 800 free team
while Tatman took part on the 200 free relay team that came in fourth. With their collective
experience and a large group of underclassmen looking up to them, their leadership will
be key to the success of the Generals this season.
Junior Brandon Barnds also returns after earning All-America laurels a year ago. A
member of both the 200 and 400 free relay teams and a two-time all-conference honoree,
he will be counted on to add some scoring punch as an individual this season.
“I look for Brandon to take a step forward this season," noted Shinofield. "He has
a great shot to qualify for the NCAA's as an individual this season following a good
sophomore season."
Other All-BMC honorees that are back include juniors Jonathan Giesen (500 free),
Winston Stagg (200 fly) and Ian Childers (200 medley relay) and sophomores Ryan
Hanson (200 medley relay) and Brandon Wilder (200 fly).
“I think that we are pretty solid in the distance events this year with Giesen, Daniel
Austin and Kevin Corn coming back," noted Shinofield. "We are not going to be quite as
sprint dominated as we have been in years past.”
Look for junior Nicholas Talluri to step up in the sprint events with the departures of
McGlaston and Sweet.
Shinofield also expects the addition of 15 newcomers to help the Generals overcome
the loss of the 2008 senior class.
"I expect some of the newcomers to come in and make some contributions right
away," he said. "A lot depends on how quickly they adapt to the way we train, but if they
can, they will help us immediately.”
The incoming class features a diverse group of swimmers. Shinofield expects Ryan
Hartman to contribute to several relays, Ian Dexter and Sam Cotterall to add some depth
to the breastroke, and Brad Harder and Chris Washnock among others, to add depth to
the class.
“We have a very competitive schedule and it is going to be interesting how quickly
we bring some guys along, and how the upperclassmen assert themselves,” added
Shinofield.
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