SWIMMING & DIVING

GO TECH!!!

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Coach Dodd's Alumni Newsletter  

Caltech Swimming and Diving Teams finished off their season with a strong showing at the Long Beach Belmont Plaza Natatorium.  The historic, fast swimming complex was built for the 1968 Olympic Swimming Trials and this was the second time the SCIAC conference used it for their Championship.

The Caltech Teams really made a showing this year with the help of the sophomore class.  Peter Buhler had just returned from a three day Caltech Geology Field Trip to Death Valley.  "I was not to sure of my taper, after three days of hiking up and down a bunch of mountains, but it turned out OK" stated Buhler. Peter swam two events on his first day.  The first was the 100 Backstroke, in which he won the consolation finals with a time of 54.17.   He then set the school record in the 100 Butterfly, 54.66 (breaking the mark set by Hans Smith in 2002). The next day, Mr. Buhler finished off his swim season with another Caltech school record in the 200 Backstroke, 1:57.69 (also set by Hans Smith in 2002) and placed 6^th.    Freshmen Jack Blackwood scored some valuable points in the tough 400 IM and Tommy Kwong had a solid first season swimming the IM and breaststroke events.  "The real story is the overall improvement of the entire team" related Coach Clinton Dodd.  Singled out for extra praise were sophomores, Chris Hallacy (started out 2:18 for the 200 Free and finished at 1:58.88) and Tony Tong (1:22.43 to 1:10 drop in the 100 Breaststroke).

Sophomore Diver Justin Johnson had been leading the way all year with solid performances on both high and low springboards.  He capped off his second year of competition by placing a strong second place in the 1 meter competition and fourth on the 3m board.  Surprising everyone with how fast he improved was newbie diver, freshmen Wade Hann-Caruthers, who placed 6^th on the high board and 5^th at the lower level.  "Both male divers battled a tough field of competitors and are looking forward to next year's season" stated diving Coach Ute Zimmerman.

The Lady Techers also swam and dove well all weekend long.  Key swim team member, Grad student Panna Felsen, took advantage of a NCAA rule that allows athletes the chance to get their fourth year of competition if they go to the same school for her graduate degree.  "It was just wonderful having Panna out for swimming again" related Coach Dodd.  "This experience does not happen too many times at a school like Caltech.  Panna set so many personal best marks for herself this year".  Senior captains Chao Lui and Stephanie Schulze had some great swims this week and scored valuable points swimming the relays.  Justine Chia took care of the sprints and breaststroke.  Scottish exchange student Dianne Ferguson and Janis Intoy looked good during the 1650 and the 100.  Cindy You, Hanna Dodd, Karen Dowling, and Annie Chin all did well following Chao Lui's 1:13.50 in the 100 Backstroke.  The freshmen duo of Anastasia Markovtsova and Carly Bond had an outstanding effort in the 100 Breaststroke.  And sophomore Caitlin Regan just missed the 200 Fly cut by 1.03 seconds.

The top scorer for the ladies was newbie diver Timi Kosztin, taking 8^th place on the 1m springboard.  "I'm very impressed to have a group of divers keep pushing each other to improve at this level" related Coach Zimmerman.  Other divers who competed include Erin Zampaglione 10^th, Jessica Swallow 14^th, Peggy Allen 19^th, and Stacy Levine 20^th. 

The team scores during the three day meet proved interesting as the women grabbed a lead from both Whittier and LaVerne after Day 1 and held on to the it all three days.  Caltech  finished in sixth place with a score of Caltech 152 to La Verne's 147 and Whittier's 135.  Way to go Women's Team!  The men were in third place during the first day of competition but fell to seventh place by the end of the second day, just 4 points behind LaVerne.  Caltech dropped to eighth on the last individual event of the meet, finishing 8 points behind Whittier. 

A special thanks goes to our computer operator Erin Flanagin, Assistant Coach Brian Wolfe and Diving Coach Ute Zimmerman for making this season so memorable, fun and exciting. And to our Captains Aryan Safaie, Stephanie Schulze, Peggy Allen and Chao Lui, thank you for all your leadership and drive for excellence.

 GO TECH!!!

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