2004-05 Ohio State Women’s Swimming & Diving Outlook – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/3/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swim & Dive
With strong freshman and sophomore classes returning, and having only graduated three swimmers from last year’s team, the Ohio State women’s swimming team figures to be one of the most improved squads in the Big Ten in 2004-2005.
“I feel really good about this season,” Jeanne Fleck, head women’s swimming coach, said. “We’re a really young team. All of our points were scored by freshmen or sophomores except for the one that Stephanie Raezer scored.”
While the Buckeyes improved their overall meet record from 7-6 in the 2002-2003 season to 9-5 last season, the biggest stride they made was in Big Ten action, where they defeated Illinois and Michigan State and narrowly lost three other Big Ten dual-meets by less than seven points. The Buckeyes also made progress at the Big Ten swimming and diving championships, where the team improved from a 172-point, ninth- place finish two seasons ago to a 196-point, eighth-place finish last season. Overall, the Buckeyes return 13 letterwinners from last year’s team.
The team is hoping to carry some momentum from last year’s Big Ten championships into this season. Five different Buckeyes achieved NCAA B qualifying times at the Big Ten championships while 20 different swimmers posted either team or personal season best times there.
“The girls are really excited and we’re such a young team that I think the momentum’s going to be there,” Fleck said.
Freestyle
While the team will miss the services of Katie Severson and Stephanie Raezer, the Buckeyes are hoping a mix of experienced swimmers and a group of freshmen can help improve on what Fleck considered to be their weakest event last season.
Returning to the team is senior co-captain Ashley Barnes, who took first place in the 50-yard freestyle three different times last season. She also was part of the 200-yard freestyle relay team that set the team-season best mark of 1:35.02 at the Big Ten championships. Senior Katie Kolles also returns to the team, this year donning the title of co-captain. Kolles will be expected to help lead the team and act as a mentor to the freshmen who will compete in freestyle events. She will also participate in freestyle relay events for the Buckeyes.
Fellow senior Kylie Lancken will also help provide a leadership role for the Buckeyes. Lancken continued to flex her muscles in freestyle events, such as the time she met Australian Olympic Trial cut times in the 50- and 100-meter freestyle at last season’s Auburn Invitational. Perhaps the most experienced returning freestyle swimmer, Lancken is most dangerous in freestyle relay events, where she helped the team set season best marks in three different events at the 2004 Big Ten Championships.
Complementing the three seniors will be juniors Erin Greene and Nicole Maglich, who set three lifetime bests in freestyle action last season. Greene is expected to help improve upon the sprint freestyle events, which Fleck considered to be the Buckeyes’ weakest area of freestyle. Last season, she set two lifetime best marks in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle, both coming at the Big Ten championships. Greene also competed in freestyle relay events for the Buckeyes last season.
On the other end of the spectrum, Maglich will be counted on to hold down the distance freestyle events for the Buckeyes after setting a new lifetime best mark in the 1,650-yard freestyle at the Big Ten championships.
Backing up Maglich in the distance freestyle events will be seniors Kearstin Hetrick, Kristina Lipskis and Abby Grantstein, junior Meaghan Mahoney, and freshman Dana Lipskis, younger sister of Kristina. Mahoney is returning after an injury forced her to miss most of last season.
The Buckeyes will be counting on a strong incoming freshman class, which includes four sprint freestyle swimmers in Linda Lund, Lesley Miely, Annie Rennebohm and Katie Wall.
Locals Rennebohm and Wall both look to instantly improve the sprint freestyle events. In high school, Rennebohm posted times of 23.86 in the 50-yard freestyle and 51.90 in the 100-yard freestyle, which would have been good enough to finish in the Top 40 at last season’s Big Ten championships. Wall posted similar times of 24.6 in the 50-yard freestyle and 54.2 in the 100-yard freestyle.
Breaststroke
Sophomore Rebekah Rychvalsky returns after an incredible freshman season in which she set a pool record in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:18.79 in a meet against Michigan. The Buckeyes’ rookie of the year is ready to continue right where she left off, after narrowly missing qualifying for the NCAA championships. Rychvalsky also set team season best marks in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke with times of 1:03.91 and 2:16.26, respectively.
Backing her up will be fellow sophomore Liz Osterer and incoming freshmen Erin Church and Samantha Johnson. Osterer capped off a solid freshman campaign by setting her season personal best in the 100-yard breaststroke at the Big Ten championships with a time of 1:06.67. Johnson posted times of 1:08.97 in the 100-yard breaststroke and 2:27.63 in the 200-yard breaststroke in high school.
Butterfly
With an Olympian and an NCAA B qualifier, the Buckeyes are ready to continue to dominate in butterfly events this season. Sophomore Gulsah Gunenc broke three Turkish national records last year on her way to a sixth place finish at the Big Ten championships in the 200-yard butterfly while junior Deanna Strunk set two lifetime best marks in the 100- and 200-yard butterfly. Strunk, who was named the team’s most valuable swimmer, finished 17th in the 200-yard butterfly at the Big Ten championships.
While the duo of Gunenc and Strunk already provides a formidable team in an already strong event, the Buckeyes are anxiously awaiting the arrival of incoming freshman Griete Buelens. Her time of 2:14.97 in the 200-meter long course meters butterfly is three seconds faster than Gunenc’s best. When converted, Buelens’ time in the 200-yard butterfly places her among the top times at last year’s Big Ten championships, which is just one of the reasons why Fleck believes that Buelens will strongly challenge the Big Ten competition this season.
Maglich also will help provide depth in the butterfly events after a Top 10 finish in the 200-yard butterfly at the Big Ten championships last year. Junior Natalie Bojko will also help provide some depth after posting her season personal best time in the 100-yard butterfly at the Big Ten championships.
Backstroke
Sophomore Steph Fennell will lead the way for the Buckeyes in the backstroke events after setting team season best marks at the Big Ten championships. Fleck thinks Fennell, who won the 100-yard backstroke in a meet against Ohio last season, will continue improve upon a solid freshman season.
“Steph has had a great summer and I think she’s really going to step up to the plate,” Fleck said. “Now that she has the first year under her belt, I think she’s going to continue to improve.”
Lancken also will compete in backstroke events for the Buckeyes. Last season at the Auburn Invitational, Lancken met Australian Olympic Trial cut times in both the 100- and 200-meter backstroke. Along with her accomplishments at the Auburn Invitational, Lancken also took first in the 200-yard backstroke in meets against Michigan, Southern Illinois and Indiana, and Iowa and Illinois.
Backing up Fennell and Lancken will be Strunk as well as co-captain Katie Kolles. Last season, Kolles took second place in the 200-yard backstroke in Ohio State’s win over West Virginia and Louisville.
Individual Medley
After finishing ninth in the 400-yard individual medley at the Big Ten championships last season, Strunk is continuing to improve in her strongest event. Her time in the 400-yard IM at the Big Ten meet was good enough to make NCAA B qualifying standards, as well as establishing a new lifetime best for her.
Backing Strunk up will be Osterer and incoming freshman Samantha Johnson. Osterer set a new lifetime best mark in the 200-yard IM at the Big Ten championships last season with a time of 2:08.01. With posted times of 2:09.67 and 4:35.55 in the 200- and 400- yard individual medley in high school, Johnson will be counted on to further develop success in her collegiate career. Lund will also help provide some depth for the Buckeyes in the individual medley. At the Danish national championships, Lund earned a second place finish in the 100-meter IM with a time of 1:05.42 (short course meters).
The Schedule
The 2004-2005 schedule features a nice balance of competition and a lot of in-state flavor, with the Buckeyes playing host to meets against Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Miami (Ohio), Denison and Kenyon.
“We have a couple of new teams coming to swim us this year,” Fleck said. “Minnesota is coming, which we’re really excited about. We’re going to Iowa, and Northwestern is going to meet us there, which should be a really great race because we’re all about equal.”
The Buckeyes travel to Ann Arbor on Nov. 12 to face defending Big Ten Champions Michigan, offering an opportunity early in the season to face top-level competition. The team will face another tough test early in the new year when it plays host to the Big Ten third-place finisher, Indiana, on Jan. 8.
“We just have a good mix of competition in our schedule,” Fleck said. “With the Big Ten and the Mid-American Conference, we’ve really mixed it up well.”
The team also will travel to Athens, Ohio for a co-ed meet against Ohio on Jan. 15.
2004-05 Diving Outlook
With one of the youngest and most successful diving teams in the Big Ten last season, the Buckeyes lost just one diving event against their first 11 opponents. This year the squad will be led by the foursome of Anesa Beard, Ashley Bourland, Julie Broms and Amber Simmons
“I know that last year, at the Big Tens, our divers did a great job,” diving coach Vince Panzano said. “All four of our divers scored points for the team and made the finals, which is top eight. They were all freshmen, so naturally, now they are all sophomores and a year older, a year more experienced and hopefully a year better.”
Broms and Bourland return after finishing the season in grand fashion, both with great performances at the NCAA championships followed by auditions for the United States Olympic team during the summer. Bourland placed 12th in the platform dive while Broms placed 22nd in the 1-meter dive. For her performance at the NCAA championships, Bourland was awarded honorable mention All-American honors.
Beard returns after a solid freshman campaign, which saw her continue to hone her skills in the 1-meter dive, where she was an NCAA Qualifier. She also participated in 3-meter dive events, taking first in a meet against Bowling Green.
Simmons also returns after a solid freshman campaign, which saw her become an NCAA qualifier in the 1-meter dive. She placed third in the 1-meter dive at the Big Ten championships..
“Our schedule is set that our primary focus is as the end of the season with the Big Ten and NCAA championships. Those are the two most important competitions as far as the diving goes,” Panzano said. “They are what we most want to do well in, so the dual meet season is really in preparation of the two end of the year competitions.”
Panzano is very hopeful about the season to come with the accomplishments from both last season and those made over the summer.
“I hope that this year all four of our girls make Top 8 in all three events at the Big Ten competition,” Panzano said, “and from there we go to NCAA qualifying meet and our goal there is that all four girls qualify for NCAA championships. At the NCAA meet we expect to have a good meet and finish in the top eight.”
Olympic Experiences
Representing Turkey in her first-ever Olympic experience, Gunenc participated in the 100- and 200-meter butterfly events at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Gunenc finished third in the first heat of the 100-meter butterfly (1:04.30) and seventh in the preliminary round of the 200-meter butterfly (1:02.22).
Lancken participated in three events in the Australian Olympic Trials, though she failed to make it to the finals in any event. She swam in the 50- and 100-meter backstroke as well as the 100-meter freestyle. Her best showing came in the 100-meter backstroke, where she placed 38th overall with a time of 1:07.02. She placed 47th in the 50- meter backstroke with a time of 31.99 and 58th in the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 1:00.45.
Rychvalsky also participated in three events at the Australian Olympic Trials. Her best finish came in the 100-meter breaststroke, where she finished 19th with a time of 1:14.26. Rychvalsky also performed well in the 50-meter breaststroke, where she came in 25th place with a time of 34.46, and the 200-meter breaststroke where she placed 20th with a time of 2:41.91.
Riding the success of a strong season finish, highlighted by 12th- and 22nd-place finishes in the NCAA championships, Bourland and Broms were chosen to compete for the chance to make the 2004 United States Olympic team roster.
Bourland narrowly missed making the squad in the synchronized platform event after a fifth-place finish. She also competed in the platform dive, finishing 18th with a score of 354.54.
Broms competed in the 3-meter dive, finishing 13th in the semifinal round with a score of 451.74. Only the top 12 advanced, with Broms coming within 6.60 points of the 12th spot in the finals.
