Dartmouth Swimming & Diving Heads to the UNLV Invitational and Ireland for Annual Training Trip

HANOVER, N.H. - The Dartmouth men's and women's swimming and diving teams will be making their second appearance in three years at the UNLV Invitational this coming weekend, before crossing the Atlantic to train in Ireland on the annual December training trip.

Since 1998, the team has traveled to take a break after final exams for the fall term and provide a chance for the team to bond and concentrate solely on training. For the first time the Big Green will be taking a trip to Europe and not south to a warmer climate.

The break begins with a trip out west to UNLV, where Dartmouth will be facing seven different squads, including Mountain West Conference champs UNLV, UC-Santa Barbara, Utah, Cal Poly and TCU. The meet is a Prelims/Championship format with the top 24 swimmers in the prelims advancing to the finals and the top eight divers will dive in the finals.

"We are approaching UNLV as the pinacle of our fall season, a major high point of the year," said Dartmouth coach Jim Wilson. "The teams have been training and racing well so far. We have already had many collegiate and lifetime best performances this season and we are looking to build on those this weekend. It will be a great test of where we are and what more we have to do to prepare for Championship season."

On December 27, the team will depart for Ireland and be training at the Irish National Aquatic Centre in Dublin. On the first of the year, the Big Green will be taking on the Irish National Team and also during the trip the team will be taking a tour of Dublin Castle.

"We will be training and racing (against the Irish National Team) among a different culture, helping our teams to prepare for February and March," said Wilson. "The training trip is always a highlight in terms of excellent training and the ultimate team bonding experience."

So far this season each team has a win, with the men defeating Colgate, 170-124, on November 11. The women's team earned its first win on November 30, slipping past Boston College 155-145.

On the women's swimming side, senior captain Liz Mancuso (Andover, Mass.) has been a dominant force in the 200-yard individual medley with wins against Boston College, Brown and Colgate. Against the Eagles, she posted the eighth best time in program history in the event with a time of 58.82. Junior Heather Jankins (Raynham, Mass.), like Mancuso, earned three wins in the 100-yard breaststroke. Her best performance came against Colgate with a time of 1:08.02.

Freshmen have also stepped up as Maddie Steiner (Dallas, Texas) got off to a great start with back-to-back wins in the 200-yard freestyle, while Anna Sonstegard (Sioux Falls, N.D.) has come on lately in the distance events with wins in the 1000-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle against Boston College.

Senior Gordon Russell (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) leads the men's team with two wins in the 100-yard backstroke and a win in the 200-yard backstroke against Colgate. Junior Kevin Ellis (Centennial, Colo.) earned wins in the 100-yard, 200-yard and 500-yard freestyle against the Raiders

Just like the women's team, the men have freshmen that have contributed greatly to the squad this season. Jonathan Panzl (Massapequa, N.Y.) posted wins in the 200-yard butterfly in the victory over Colgate and in the meet with Boston College. Marco Chu (Newton, Mass.) is a multi-event swimmer for the Big Green who got wins in the 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard individual medley in the win over Colgate.

On the diving side, three excellent divers have led the Dartmouth women. Sophomore Kathleen Brady (Upland, Calif.) has dominated the 3-meter dive, earning first place finishes against Boston College and Colgate, while senior Julianne Mifflin (Greenwich, Conn.) owns the 1-meter dive with top finishes at Brown and against Colgate. Freshman Bridget Duffey (Boxford, Mass.) got her first collegiate win in the 1-meter dive against Boston College.

For the men, senior Andrew Berry (Middleton, Wis.) has been an important factor for the Big Green as he has swept both diving events in all but one meet this season. The highlight of the early season came against Boston College when he set a new Dartmouth and Karl Michael Pool record in the 1-meter dive with a score of 355.57, which was 60 points better than his closest opponent. In the 3-meter dive, he scored a 353.93 and once again finished 60 points ahead of his competition. Berry earned ECAC Diver of the Week honors following his performance against the Eagles.

The team will have a swimmer or diver that will be keeping a running diary of the Ireland trip and it will be available on the swimming and diving website at DartmouthSports.com

Following the Ireland training trip, the Big Green will be back action on January 9 as Dartmouth travels to Vermont, beginning at 6 p.m.

Schedules