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News Release
Swimming and Diving Notebook: UMBC at East Carolina Saturday, Alumni Day Jan. 24 vs. Marist, Retrievers Meet Olympians in Florida
1/12/2009
 The Retrievers in their training pool in Florida. |
BALTIMORE-The UMBC men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams traveled to sunny Florida for their annual training trip, where they won six out of eight sections of the Ocean Mile at the Fort Lauderdale Rough Water Swim in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Jan. 3. The Retrievers’ final home meet is Alumni Day against Marist on Jan. 24. If any former athletes are planning to attend, please RSVP to head coach Chad Cradock as soon as possible.
Seniors Daniele Surkovich and Evan Roseberry took home the senior titles, while freshman John Mendenhall paced the freshmen men. The UMBC freshmen women also finished with the top three finishers, with Ashley Sippel, Pink Kinanti and Kathryn Moorby earning the medals. The Retrievers also finished 1-2 in both sophomore sections with Rebecca Godwin and Cassie Dobrzanski on the women’s side and Mat Carson and Keilan Freeman on the men’s.
“The addition of the ocean mile was an exciting challenge for our athletes,” Cradock said, “and when we saw that it was our swimmers who were in the lead coming back to the beach, it made the trip that much more meaningful and successful.”
Retrievers Meet
“I thought the fact that our athletes had the chance to talk to two Olympic-caliber swimmers was very rewarding,” Cradock said. “They were able to talk about the commitment and training that goes in becoming the best team that we can be and I think hearing it from two guys who are very well respected in the swimming community will greatly help us.”
UMBC Continues Fundraising Drive: The Retrievers are in the middle of a fundraising drive and have already raised over $11,000 to help with the costs of running a very competitive program including new suits and training equipment. Their goal is $16,000 this year.
“$11,000 is a wonderful start to our drive and we appreciate everything that everyone has given us so far,” said Cradock. “We are still accepting donations and any amount will greatly help our program continue to grow and improve our rich tradition here at the UMBC Natatorium.”
If you would like to make a donation to help the UMBC swimming and diving program, please contact head coach Chad Cradock at ccradock@umbc.edu.
Retrievers Making Mark on Top-10 Lists: In the first half of the 2008-09 season, the Retrievers have made a big impact on the all-time top-10 swim lists with 14 new top-10 times on the women’s side and 11 on the men’s, including senior Justin Bronson breaking fellow senior Freddie Reitz’s 500 freestyle record with a time of 4:26.06 at the Patriot Invitational. Reitz put forth an impressive performance himself, shaving more than two seconds off his previous record with a time of 4:26.21.
The freshman class has made a large impact on the lists with Jason Mattingly breaking into the 50 and 100 freestyle lists, while John Mendenhall placing on the 100 and 200 breaststroke lists. On the women’s side, freshmen Abbey McKenney and Ashley Miller have made their mark on the 50 and 100 freestyle lists and fellow freshman Pink Kinanti breaking into the 1,650 freestyle and the 100 butterfly charts.
Junior transfer Sam Maccherola and sophomore Eric Jones each have three new times on the top-10 lists. Jones entered the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle charts, while Maccherola is now on the 100, 200 and 1,000 freestyle lists.
The Retrievers return to action Saturday at