The University of Bridgeport’s swimming teams both finished the season last year battling injuries and competition but look to start the 2011 season off on the right foot. The men’s swimming team sent four players to the national champions last year, two individual champions, and two relay champions. The team finished sixth overall.
Brad Flood, who has coached the men’s swimming team since it started in 2009 and the women’s swimming team since 2004, said of the four guys who made it to the national championship last season, only one of them came back this season. Flood said he has found rookie replacements that will fill the void for the three that left after last season.Flood said he sees potential in the rookie class and that a national championship is within reach.
“Probably the best rookie class I’ve been associated with in my coaching career on the college level,” Flood said.
Igor Vulesevic, a freshman, said that he had one goal to complete at the end of the season and that is to be in the top eight of swimmers in the 200 backstroke. Vulesevic said the goal of the team would be to win the National Championship in March.
“We have seven or more freshmen that have joined this year and they are all excellent athletes so we should more better this year and improve last year’s success in the National Championship” Vulesevic said.
The women’s team on the other hand didn’t get to send players on the relays to the nationals due to injuries in the middle of the season. Flood said that with the rookies on the team right now and the ones joining next semester that the women’s team could finish as far as the top 10 in the nationals this year.
Maris Vesse, a senior, said the team’s goal would be to improve their times in the races and have the best average time of the season which has always been the team’s goal from the beginning.
“We have got a lot of new freshman as well as transfers, so far they are awesome, and they have all the energy, were all a big happy family and they have acclimated very well” Vesse said.
She said that the team has to take precautions so the swimmers won’t suffer injuries like the ones that kept them from nationals last year and to keep up good effort and good effort and that is what will keep the team “striving for excellence”.
The two teams have their first home match on October 21 in the Wheeler Recreation Center at 2:00 p.m. Their other home matches are November 12th, also in Wheeler Recreation Center. They will also have home matches on December 10th at Post University and February 4th at St. Peters College.