Feb. 3, 2004
The 2002-03 season was a new beginning for the Duquesne University men's swimming program and things seem to be heading in the right direction as evidenced by the five school records that were set by freshmen last season and the fact that 12 of the 14 top individual times were turned in by first year swimmers.
First year head coach David Sheets looks to build upon last year's success by mixing the leadership of a handful of upperclassmen with four solid sophomores and a stellar crop of 11 freshmen. Last season, the Dukes received a mid-season spark as Ed Wicker a freshman transfer from Wheeling Jesuit joined the team. Wicker provided immediate strength to the freestyle and relay events as evidenced by his school records in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyles. Fellow freshman Hugo Erse solidified the distance free events and set five season-best times as well as breaking school records in the 1,000 free and 1,650 free.
INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY Senior Andrew Spotts, junior Josh Hoffman and Erse are the incumbents in this event with Hoffman turning in last year's best time in the 200 IM and Erse racing to the fastest DU mark in the 400 IM. They will receive help this year from a pack of freshmen in Clayton Dean, Jordan Moss, Brandon Nance and Dan Wargo.
FREESTYLE Wicker will anchor the sprint events and receive help from junior Jeremy Tomista, sophomore John Holleran and Dean and freshman Scott Darwin. Also contributing will be senior Alexandre Vaz, junior Dereck Wischmeyer and freshmen Anthony Addlesberger, Aaron Cygnarowicz, Paul Popovich, Mike Semanchik and Johnathan Steele.
School record holder Erse will lead the way in the distance free, but will be pressured by freshmen Dean and Moss. Also contributing will be Hoffman, sophomore Doug Yeager and freshman Brendan Speers.
BUTTERFLY Hoffman and Tomista will be the main contributors in the 100 fly with Hoffman and Erse solidifying the 200-yard event. Wargo and Cygnarowicz will push the upper classmen in both events while Wicker could make noise in the 100.
BACKSTROKE Yeager and Spotts are the top two returnees in the backstroke, but they could be eclipsed by freshman Darwin. Nance and a variety of others including Wicker and Erse could compete here as well.
BREASTSTROKE The Dukes return their top three breaststrokers in Holleran, Spotts and Vaz who had the top three times in both the 100 and 200 event. Nance and Speers will add depth to the line-up this year.
SCHEDULE Duquesne will face traditional Atlantic 10 rivals St. Bonaventure, Fordham, Xavier and Rhode Island as well as Pitt, Canisius, VMI, St. Francis (NY), Niagara, Cleveland State, Allegheny, Wright State, Clarion and Towson. The Dukes will also compete in the Akron Invitational and close the season with the Atlantic 10 Championship. In addition, Duquesne will host its first annual Alumni Meet in October and make a 12-day Christmas break trip to Ft. Lauderdale, FL for additional training.
