Frosh class to give Quakers needed boost

Swimming is a sport in which talent usually comes from size, age and experience.

This fact may intimidate some college freshman swimmers, but not the freshmen of the Penn men's swimming team.

Penn coach Mike Schnur has compiled a recruiting unit that may be better than any in the program's history.

"The class that we brought in has a lot of talent," Schnur said. "There are plenty of men in this class who will score at Easterns [Championships] and two or three who will dominate."

One reason that the men will make such an impact on Penn swimming is the impact they have on one another.

"They're very similar and very competitive," Schnur said. "They get better from training with each other. They raise each other to another level."

Additionally, the group of freshmen is very diverse and will add depth to the team in every event.

Schnur said that in his recruiting, he does not look for a man to fill a certain position, but rather a versatile swimmer who will help the team in many ways.

"I recruit for quality," Schnur said. "If I have a great swimmer, it doesn't matter what they swim."

But somehow, it looks like a lot of those "great" freshmen swimmers are mid-distance freestylers. Brian Funk, Chris Perez, Tom Hayden, Nate Bagnaschi and Jeff Organisciak were all Junior National Qualifiers their senior year of high school and are very optimistic about their swimming careers at Penn.

"I think we can take our team right up there to the top of the conference," Hayden said.

In breaststroke, meanwhile, Penn lost Kenneth Goh, last year's Ivy League breaststroke champion, to graduation. But Schnur added freshmen Carl Ericson and Patrick Brugh to the mix, and with junior Chris Miller returning, Penn has some talent in the event.

The butterfly is traditionally one of the Quakers strongest events and this year should be no exception with the addition of newcomers Funk, Patrick Brugh and Eddie Anderton.

A three-time New England Prep finalist in diving, Joe Pahl will join the Red and Blue's diving squad and hopes to help strengthen the program.

Schnur began the recruiting process for this class a full two years ago.

"Through their junior year I spend most of my time recruiting on the East Coast and checking the national meet results," Schnur said.

According to Schnur, about 75 percent of the recruiting class applies early decision, which allows more flexibility with extra recruits in the spring.

When the swimmers begin their senior year in high school, they are invited to Penn on a recruiting trip. Schnur hopes this is the clincher for top swimmers who are debating whether or not to suit up for the Red and Blue.

"When I came on a recruiting trip, I really saw what the team was all about," Bagnaschi said. "They were a tight group of guys. That's what I wanted."

Brugh agreed. "I came up here just to visit and just loved the team," he said. "I applied early the next day."

Many of the swimmers attribute their decision to swim for Penn to Schnur's attitude.

"Mike was a big factor in me coming here," Funk said. "You can sit down and talk to him as a friend."

Funk's teammates feel the same way.

"Mike could relate to a lot of things for me," Perez said.

Many of the new swimmers have already competed against each other for years as members of opposing club and high school teams.

"We have a lot of swimmers who were high school rivals," Schnur said.

But once these swimmers arrived at Penn, those rivalries disappeared.

"It's all pretty friendly competition," Perez said. "We all want to do well as a team."

The Quakers are proud of their team unity.

"We are a really close team," Brugh said. "We spend all of our time together and we really feel like we are each other's best friends. It's really nice."

The swimmers, as well as their coach, are very excited to see what this squad will do over the next four years.

"The older you get, the faster you are," Schnur said. "As they get stronger and get older, they will be a strong group."

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