2006-07 Men's Swimming And Diving Preview
10/3/2006 12:00:00 AM | Swimming and Diving
Oct. 3, 2006
The Michigan State men's swimming and diving team will return 14 letterwinners and welcome 13 newcomers for the 2006-07 season. The large and heralded freshman class will join ranks with veterans to improve the Spartans, (4-4, 10th-place Big Ten), from one year ago.
"Whether it's intentional or unintentional, the freshmen are going to be the focus of what goes on this year," said head coach Matt Gianiodis. "There are so many of them and so many of them in key spots, that on some level they are going to have to be."
With a young roster, the Spartans will look to reload this year and get the newcomers up to speed quickly in order to be competitive at the Big Ten level. Senior diver Matt Akerley and senior swimmer David Lessard will be joined by members of the junior class to form a leadership group that will work alongside the coaching staff. This group will be responsible for pushing the team to do its best everyday and leave a lasting imprint on the program.
Akerley will anchor a diving roster of four, which includes two freshmen and a sophomore, in his final season as a Spartan. He earned multiple top-three finishes last season, including two top-three finishes against Ball State and a first-place finish on the one-meter against St. Bonaventure. His first-place finish against St. Bonaventure qualified him for the NCAA Regional Meet. In addition, Akerley was named the MSU Men's Diver of the Year in 2006.
Junior swimmer Adam Schmitt will return this season after an impressive sophomore campaign in which he was a member of the 400 free relay team that set a record at Charles McCaffree Pool. Schmitt teamed up with then-seniors Rudy Wagenaar, Matt Wisniewski and David Habel in the final home meet of their careers to set a pool-best 3:01.63 mark.
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Schmitt contributed points to the Spartans 2006 Big Ten finish as a member of the seventh-place 400 free relay. In addition, Schmitt earned an 11th-place finish at the championship in the 100 free. To date, Schmitt is a member of three MSU record-holding relay teams.
Red-shirt junior Jason Vadney will also look to make his presence known on the 2006-07 team, following a medical red-shirt season. As a sophomore, Vadney was a member of the MSU record-setting 400 free relay team, he also added points for MSU at the Big Ten Championship, placing ninth in the 200 free with a time of 1:38.52.
If this summer was any indication of what's in store, sophomore Marcus Poteete could also add depth to the Spartan roster. Poteete is one of 11 in the sophomore and junior classes the Gianiodis will look at to step up this season.
Michigan State will once again face tough competitors throughout the season in preparation for 2007 post-season competition. The Spartans are slated to face four schools which scored in the 2006 NCAA Championship Meet during the regular season. MSU will also face seven schools at the Big Ten Championships which scored in the NCAA meet.
"The schedule is hard during the first semester because everything got shifted back a week," said Gianiodis. "With everything a week earlier than usual, we are going to have to work things out sooner."
The Green and White will begin competition at home against conference opponent Iowa on Oct. 28. MSU will then travel to face Notre Dame in South Bend on Nov. 10, before heading to Ann Arbor to swim against opponents from Michigan and Princeton on Nov. 11.
The Spartans will also compete on the road the following weekend at the Northwestern Invitational, set for Nov. 17-19.
Some members of the team will then head to West Lafayette, Ind., to compete at the US Open from Nov. 30-Dec. 2.
MSU will welcome Ball State to East Lansing on Dec. 9, before the Spartans' month-long break in competition.
Michigan State will continue the season on Jan. 13 at home against Purdue before its final regular-season meet at Oakland on Jan. 19.
MSU opens post-season action at the Big Ten Championship, Feb. 16-19.
With the success in relays that the Spartans have seen in recent history, Gianiodis will once again count on them to be a strength at the Big Ten meet.
"I am hoping to do better at the championship than we did last year," said Gianiodis. "Hopefully we don't lose relays, because that can really be the key. I thought we swam pretty well last year, but we are going to need the guys to go in there loose, especially with all of the freshmen that we have."
NCCA Diving Zones are schedule to be held from March 2-4; a location has yet to be determined. The 2006 NCCA Men's Championship is set for March 15-17 in Minneapolis, Minn.
Players Mentioned
