Oct. 12, 2007
NORFOLK, Va. -- The Old Dominion men's and women's swimming and diving squads open up the 2007-08 season on Saturday, October 13th in Washington D.C. as the Monarchs compete against Georgetown and the Lady Monarchs take on both the Hoyas and James Madison.
The men's squad welcomes back several key performers from last season including All-CAA honoree Patrik Balint (Budapest, Hungary). Balint earned All-CAA in honors in six events - 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke, 400 freestyle relay, 800 freestyle relay, 400 medley relay, and 200 medley relay and broke his own school record in the 100 backstroke (50.02) at the CAA Championships. Also returning to the pool for the Monarchs are Kevin Latimer (Newport News, Va.) and Johan Lundberg (Fjaras, Sweden), both All-CAA recipients who were a members of the third place 400 medley relay team (3:23.52) at the CAA Championships. Garrett Opp (Yorktown, Va.) and Chad Gangwer (Virginia Beach, Va.) also return to the water. Opp and Gangwer were also Monarch All-CAA recipients. Garrett was on the 200 medley relay that finished in third place (1:33.54) at the CAA championships while Gangwet was a member of the first place 400 free relay team (3:02.96) and the fourth place 800 freestyle relaty team (6:46.83) at the CAA Championships. Peter Stickl (Falls Church, Va.) helped pace the Monarch divers. He was named CAA Diver of the Week after helping defeat George Washington with season-best scores.
Several newcomers should also have immediate impact at Old Dominion. Wesley Murai (Budapest, Hungary) comes to Old Dominion after a stellar summer ranked in the top 20 in Hungary in the 50 and 100 freestyles as well as the 100 butterfly. Kristofer Hagg (Skovde, Sweden) is also coming off a record-breaking summer of his own. Hagg posted best times in every event he swam at Swedish Nationals, ranking in the top 20 in both the 200 and 400 freestyles. Mikael Ramkvist (Bjarred, Sweden), also hailing from Sweden, will follow in his brother's footsteps and become a Monarch this year. Josh Kinas (Reston, Va.) placed third in Virginia in the 100 breaststroke.
The Lady Monarchs welcome back several key members from last season. Elizaveta Moiseeva (Moscow, Russia) earned team-high times in all four sprint freestyle events at the CAA Championships a year ago. Jennifer Sargent (Chesterfield, Va.), the Lady Monarchs' MVP, won the 100 breast (1:07.65), 200 breast (2:27.42), and 200 IM (2:13.07) in the meet with James Madison last season. Both heavily contributed to the relay teams as well. Diver Jasmine Moore (Yorktown, Va.) contined to pace the ODU female divers. She was named the CAA Diver of the Week after helping defeat George Washington with season-best scores.
Adding to the Lady Monarch roster this season are several newcomers.April Barrientos (Va. Beach, Va.) claimed a bronze medal in the 100 backstroke at the Virginia High School State meet. Kelley Sayers (Hampton, Va.) placed in the top eight at the Virginia High School State meet. Lauren Fiskus (Yorktown, Va.) swam and trained with the Coast Guard Blue Dolphins throughout high school. Hannah Kess and Caroline Larsson are among the international student-athletes on the team with Kess joining the team from Canada and Larsson from Sweden.
Following Saturday's meet with the Hoyas and Dukes, the Old Dominion men's and women's swimming and diving squads will return to the pool on Saturday, October 20th at Towson.