Thursday, November 29, 2007

SMU men’s swimming and diving signs four for 2008 freshman class

By Pegasus News wire

The SMU men's swim team has received National Letters of Intent from three athletes to swim for the Mustangs next season, head coach Eddie Sinnott announced Wednesday.

"The signing class is the most talented to sign during the early period for the Mustangs in a number of years," said Sinnott.

"All three of these swimmers should have an immediate impact on our team in training, dual meets, conference championships and at NCAA championships," said assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Andy Kershaw. "We now have a great nucleus for a class that should help our team continue its climb up the NCAA ranks."

The Mustangs will welcome Walter Rumans, Mitchell Thomson and Blaz Korosec to the team in the fall of 2008. Rumans will come to the Hilltop from Fort Worth, where he has been home-schooled and competes as the team captain with the Fort Worth Area Swim Team (FAST). He boasts career-best times of 20.7 in the 50 free (23.7, long course meters) and 45.9 in the 100 free (52.7 lcm).

"Walter will be a great addition to our sprint group and figures to be a key piece to our future relay success," said Sinnott. "He appears to be a swimmer that has only scratched the surface of his ability, and we are anxious to see how much he can improve. We are also excited to attract one of the top swimmers from the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, as that is always one of our goals."

Thomson joins the Mustangs from Albany Creek, where he was the 2007 Albany Creek Swimmer of the Year and recipient of the Gold Sport Award. He placed 11th at the 2007 FINA World Cup Meet held in Sydney, Australia and is ranked 46th in the world in the short course meter mile. Thomson is an Australian Olympic Trial Qualifier in the 200, 400, 800 and 1500 free events. He has compiled career-best times of 15:31.80 (short course meters) and 16:07.60 (lcm) in the 1500 free, 8:08.70 (scm) and 8:28.30 (lcm) in the 800 free and 4:00.8 (scm) and 4:06.80 (lcm) in the 400 free.

"We are very excited about Mitchell and what he will bring to our team," said Sinnott. "He has improved almost every time he has stepped on the blocks and we are excited to help him continue that trend."

Korosec hails from Slovenia, where he is a member of the Slovenian National Team and a five-time national champion and 17-time junior national champion. He has amassed career-best times of 2:02.80 (lcm) in the 200 fly, 56.6 (lcm) in the 100 fly, 1:51.40 (scm) in the 200 free and 53.5 (lcm) in the 100 free.

"Blaz should come in as one of the top incoming 200 fliers in the country," said Sinnott. "He has a lot of big meet experience for a high school senior and we expect that experience be an advantage for him and for his fellow freshmen. Along with current junior Nate Clark, we should have a great butterfly training group next year."

The Mustang men are back in action this weekend, Nov. 29-Dec. 1 at the University of Texas Invitational for their final meet of the fall season. They begin their winter/spring season January 4 at Arizona.

Source: SMU

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