Sept. 9, 2002

2002-03 Swimming & Diving Schedule

Tennessee's 2002-03 swimming and diving season should feature a balanced attack featuring six returning All-Americas and 12 talented freshmen.

Led by senior captains Jason Baxter, Jake Dorsey, Michael Gross and Greg Simpson, the Vols will navigate a tough road-heavy schedule with trips to LSU, Georgia, South Carolina, Minnesota and Florida on this year's slate.

Andrew Bree, Renato Gueraldi, George du Rand and Phillip Jones round out the returning All-Americas from last season. These eight Vols bring the leadership and experience this young squad needs.

"This class of freshmen, intermixed with a few transfers, is large and talented," said head coach John Trembley, entering his 15th season at the UT helm. "The youth and excitement definitely will contribute and infuse even more excitement into the returning team members.

"The strengths of this year's team will be balance. While we do not have the depth in all events we would like to have, we anticipate that will come in time. We have a good mix in the distance, middle distance, sprints, diving, and strokes and feel very good about the balance this team can bring to the table."

Sprint Freestyle
Renato Gueraldi, who holds the fastest time for the Vols with 19.63, and Mike Burton, with the second fastest time of 19.98, will lead the Vol sprinters this season. Senior Greg Simpson helps with leadership and adds depth to the pool. Rounding out the group is Bradley Duryea, Casey Duaw, Raymond Rosal, Paul Eder, Tyler Gustafson, Bryan Goldberg and Lubrey Lim.

Distance Freestyle
Sophomore George du Rand leads this years distance group. Last season he turned in team-leading times of 4:22.44 in the 500, 9:10.32 in the 1000 and a 15:09.75 in the 1650. Senior Greg Simpson will be adding to the squad again after having a solid season last year. He brings in a top time of 1:37.28 in the 200. Evan Nylander, who swam a 4:24.45 in the 500 and a 15:20.44 in the 1650, adds depth to this year's team while freshman Bryan Goldberg looks to score.

Butterfly
Senior Jason Baxter provides the leadership for this young Butterfly squad. His top time comes in the 200 (1:48.45). Jamie Graves looks to better himself after a team-leading time of 1:48.70 in the 200, while sophomores Josh Fulton and David Zeman hopes to score points for the Vols. Lubrey Lim also looks to contribute.

Backstroke
Seniors Greg Simpson and Michael Gross will lead this year's squad of backstrokers. Simpson holds the top returning time in the 100 with a time of 48.65. Gross is not far behind him with a time of 49.41. Paulo Machado provides depth at both distances, including a team-leading time of 1:46.25 in the 200. Josh Fulton and Daniel Blackborrow also look to contribute.

Breaststroke
Junior Andrew Bree enters the season as one of the top breaststroke swimmers in the country. Bree's time of 1:56.56 in the 200 breaststroke ranks second in UT history. Mike Burton, a senior, brings significant knowledge and depth. He will be counted on to contribute heavily this season. Junior Evan Fischer moves up from his understudy role and takes on more responsibility in scoring. Thomas Clavier rounds out the group while incoming freshmen Kiel Huston, Michael Russo and Cameron McDaniel compete for action this fall.

Individual Medley
Andrew Bree returns with the top 200 and 400 I.M. time from last season, which were 1:47.62 and 3:51.96. Senior Jason Baxter swam a 1:51.98 in last year's conference final in the 200 I.M. Paulo Machado helps add depth with a 1:51.39 in the 200 I.M. George du Rand will pay dividends as will fellow sophomore Thomas Clavier. Freshmen Casey Dauw, Kiel Huston and Michael Russo will also help score points this season.

Diving
Phillip Jones leads the way for the diving Vols. He looks to improve on his third place finishes in both the one and three-meter events from the NCAA Championships. Senior Jake Dorsey will be a main factor in the success of this years diving squad. Sal Vilardo, Kevin Manecke and John Venditti will see a lot of action this season as they will have to live up to the high expectations of coach Dave Parrington.

Following the grueling regular season schedule that includes seven dual meets and a pair of invitational meets, the Vols will turn their attention to the championship season. The Southeastern Conference Championships will be held in Auburn, Ala., as the nation's top swimming and diving conference shooting it out in a fast and furious weekend. The NCAA Championships await at the end of March in Austin, Texas.