Sept. 29, 2009

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - After a dynamic 2008-09 campaign in which the Tar Heels' men's and women's swimming and diving teams rewrote the school's record book from top to bottom in virtually every category, third-year University of North Carolina head coach Rich DeSelm welcomes back a talented and deep pair of units to face a challenging schedule in 2009-10.

The Carolina men return 27 lettermen from the 2008-09 team that finished third in the ACC Championships and 26th in the NCAA Championships. The Tar Heel men lost only six lettermen from last year and they welcome an outstanding class of nine freshmen. The Tar Heel men provide the perfect combination of youth and experience as the 37-man roster includes 18 senior and juniors and 19 freshmen and sophomores.

The Tar Heel women, who finished second in the ACC Championships and 20th in the NCAA Championships last year, will rely even more heavily on youth, as 26 of the 35 squad members are freshmen and sophomores. Only seven letter winners are gone from last year but one of those was 2009 senior Whitney Sprague, who placed second last year in the 1650-yard freestyle at the NCAA Championships and seventh in the 500-yard freestyle.

A year ago, the Tar Heels finished their dual-meet seasons with identical 6-3 overall records and 4-1 marks in the ACC. Coach DeSelm has put together a difficult 2009-10 schedule that will severely test the mettle of his young teams. The Tar Heels will go head-to-head with Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Clemson, Virginia, Duke and NC State in ACC dual meets as well as facing East Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Kenyon College from outside the league. All in all, the Tar Heels will go into dual meet competition 11 times overall in 2009-10. The Tar Heels will also make their second straight prestigious trip to the Gamecock Invitational hosted by the University of South Carolina the weekend before Thanksgiving.

The highlight of the pre-NCAA Championships schedule will be the return of the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships to UNC's Maurice J. Koury Natatorium for the first time since the 2007 campaign. It will be the fourth time this decade that UNC has hosted the meet - 2000, 2003, 2007 and 2010. The women's swimming and diving competition will be held from February 17-20 and the men's diving competition from February 18-20. The men's swimming competition will take place February 24-27.

While Carolina is a team brimming with youthful enthusiasm, the nine-member senior class will be an important component in leading the Tar Heels to success during the coming campaign. All nine seniors are veterans of multiple ACC Championships scoring teams, as their continued excellence will be key for UNC to improve its dual-meet record and move up the ladder of the team standings in the ACC Championships.

The senior class on the men's side includes veterans Hank Browning, Jeff James and Jason McLaughlin, all past NCAA qualifiers or All-ACC performers. The Tar Heels also have outstanding veteran leadership on the men's diving side with 2009 NCAA qualifier David Solarz and Austin Bradyhouse leading the way. The women's senior class is filled with past NCAA qualifiers as Ashley Howard, Alison Clemens, Megan Steeves and Eliza Butts have all competed in the NCAA Championships a minimum of two times each.

Having a strong senior class will give DeSelm the luxury of coaching a team with tremendous potential in 2009-10 while also guiding a team that in many respects will stay relatively intact for each of the next two seasons.

Thirteen of the 14 student-athletes who qualified for the 2009 NCAA Championships return to the Tar Heel team this season - all but the aforementioned Whitney Sprague. Besides Solarz, who qualified in diving last year, other men's NCAA qualifiers on the men's side include juniors Joe Kinderwater, Chip Peterson, Tommy Wyher and Tyler Harris. Kinderwater finished eighth in the 1650-yard freestyle at the NCAA meet last year while Harris and Peterson earned honorable mention All-America honors and Wyher set ACC records last year in the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard backstroke.

Returning women's NCAA qualifiers are headed up by junior Katura Harvey who had a magnificent sophomore campaign, taking seventh place in the 1650-yard freestyle at the NCAA Championships. Other returning NCAA qualifiers include Ashley Howard, Eliza Butts and Megan Steeves from the senior class, freestyle sprinter Rebecca Kane from the junior class and a trio of very talented sophomores - Layne Brodie, the ACC record holder in the 100- and 200-yard breaststrokes, as well as Katelyn Martin and Laura Moriarty.

Besides the aforementioned individuals, other top returnees and newcomers who come into the year ranked amongst the top four on the depth chart in various events and who are expected to continue to improve under DeSelm's guidance include men's freestyle sprinters Brad Hamilton, Steve Cebertowicz and Evan Reed, all members of a very talented sophomore class. Another sophomore, Wil Singley, was a top contributor in the middle and distance freestyle events a year ago. Additional depth in the two backstroke events will come from junior Josh Hafkin and sophomore Jim Flannery. Juniors Vinny Pryor and Flynn Jones will lead the tremendous depth in breaststroke corps, while freshman Will Colbert will be an outstanding addition in this area. Junior Robert Grimmett-Norris, freshman Tom Luchsinger and sophomore Victor Leclere will be big factors in the butterfly while junior Andy Brake will continue his outstanding swimming in the individual medley. UNC's diving corps will be buoyed by the return of sophomore David MacDonald and a pair of very talented freshmen - Jake Kinzbach and Ryland Jones.

Other individuals on the women's side expected to be major contributors include the following individuals not previously mentioned but who go into the season ranked in the Top 4 of the depth chart in various events. Freshman Stephanie Eisenring is expected to be a key contributor at virtually every distance in the freestyle corps. In fact, she comes in with the team's top depth chart time in the 200-yard freestyle at 1:46.52. The Carolina team has tremendous depth at the two backstroke distances with the return of sophomores Candace Cooper and Sarah List and the introduction of freshmen Carly Smith and Rebecca Brooks. Sophomore Katie Keel returns to provide even more depth and talent to an already outstanding group swimming the breaststroke.

Carolina also has high expectations for improved performances in the two butterfly events with freshman Katie Nolan coming into school with the team's top time in the 100 at 52.99. Other top returnees include sophomores Sarah Tanner, Kerianne McAfee, Laura Ruscoe and Enuf Swanson as UNC's butterfly corps is well set for the future. Another one of UNC's most versatile swimmers is sophomore Marie Pesacreta in the IM, breaststroke and backstroke. The Tar Heel diving corps on the women's side is a young one, composed entirely of sophomores and freshmen. The most experienced individuals in this group include 2009 ACC Championships participants Kaci Hollingsworth, Jenna Moore and Kristin Arnold.

It promises to be an exciting year for the Tar Heel swimming and diving program as it moves forward under he outstanding leadership of head coach Rich DeSelm and his tremendous staff of assistant coaches. DeSelm has been especially pleased with the efforts he has seen early in the practice year as the Tar Heels prepare for a difficult slate of meets in October.

Please check back here at TarHeelBlue.com late next week when the complete 2009-10 UNC media guide will be available for download here as a pdf file. This guide will provide a complete preview and history of the program and will be larger than the printed guide available in mid to late October.