by Robbie Dickson, Swimming World College Intern
Let’s start by saying that Penn State should’ve been the fourth team in the college football playoff. Now onto the article.
Every college program knows the difficulty of replacing their superstars after they graduate. It is impossible to know how freshmen will play out and the chemistry they will bring to the team. But in the spring of 2015, Penn State men’s swimming faced a harsh reality: Senior All-American Nate Savoy‘s eligibility had expired and Shane Ryan was going to be redshirting and living in Ireland to prepare for the Rio Olympics.
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
In hopes of minimizing the damage of losing these two student-athletes, head coach Tim Murphy brought in a large freshmen class of thirteen swimmers and divers. Once underway, the men went through their fare share of ups and downs. One of the major ups came during the annual winter training trip, where the team added Brazilian Joao Cervone to the roster. But still Penn State was faced with chemistry and outside the pool issues that put a ceiling on their performances. They managed only ninth at the Big Ten Championships and didn’t have any swimmers (three divers) at the NCAA Championships in Atlanta, Georgia.
But then things started to change in Happy Valley.
This fall, the Lions added eight more swimmers and returned Shane Ryan to their roster. This bunch includes Canadian standouts, Liam Veregin and Kaelan Freund. Along with the edition of former NBAC Coach and Bob Bowman’s right hand man, Erik Posegay. The chemistry among the men is returning to what it used to be, and the team is looking to make a big leap at Big Tens. As most argue that the sport is an individual one, the attitudes of your teammates can play a pivotal role in deciding the success or lack of that a swimmer has.
Assistant coach Matt Hurst shared, “We have a young men’s program. For a lot of them, last year was their first glimpse at high level collegiate swimming and we certainly had some growing pains. After B1G Tens, they took it upon themselves to continue to push this team forward and create a competitive culture. As a team they’ve embraced a ‘work works’ and ‘good isn’t good enough’ mentality. Culturally and competitively we are well ahead of where we were at the midseason last year. This group of men is hungry for success and determined to make their mark on the B1G Ten. It’s been a lot of fun to watch.”
So far this season the Lions have managed a 1-1 dual meet record, but did lose to both Michigan and Virginia at the Tri-Meet. Do not look too far into their record, because the times are almost all better than what they were at this point in the season last year. At the Ohio State Invitational, the men’s 800 free relay was leading a shaved and rested Ohio State team until the final few yards. Bright spots like this, as well as knowing the big swims are supposed to come at the end of the season, is what is driving the squad to keep pushing forward.
Captain Matt Stasiunas explaine, “The guys have really come together more so now than in the past. This is the product of the teams that have come before us and we hope to set the pace for the Nittany Lions in the future.”
While many readers will take to the comments section to share their opinions about the lack of top-notch facilities in State College or that they still are the bottom dwellers of the Big Ten, maybe some will bookmark this page and check back after the season is over to see if Penn State Men’s Swimming did in fact make a comeback. Also just a reminder, Michael Phelps trained out a six lane pool for most of his storied career. And a large chunk of that time the pool was turned to be four lanes of 25 yards. The facilities are nice, but it’s what you do in them that decides who swims fast and who does not.
Penn State Men’s Swimming returns to action January 13-14th against Yale at home.
All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.
Robbie Dickson nice job man
I think that is “the addition of former NBAC Coach”, not “the edition.”