Clemson Swimming and Diving Teams Open Season Friday

Oct. 11, 2001

Clemson, S.C. – The Clemson swimming and diving teams will kick off the 2001-2002 season on Friday in the annual Orange and White intra-squad meet. The meet begins at 4 p.m. at McHugh Natatorium. Admission is free to the public.

Men’s lineups On the men’s side, the orange team will be led by Rob Kummer, Rob Kummer is coming off a stellar freshmen campaign during which he was a finalist in both the 100 and 200 fly at the ACC championships. Kummer is ranked third in Clemson history in the 100 fly (48.91), and fourth in the 200 fly (1:49.17). Fellow sophomore Ryan Cassella holds the second-fastest time in Clemson history in the 200 breaststroke (2:01.14) and junior Craig Thomas was an NCAA Zone qualifier in both the 1m and 3m boards.

The White team will feature German Martinez, German Martinez holds the fourth-fastest time in Clemson history in the 100 back (50.08), and junior Gregor Govse holds Clemson’s fifth-fastest time in the 100 breaststroke (56.17) and the third-fastest time in the 200 breaststroke (2:01.37). Senior Matt Wilson turned in a memorable performance at last year’s conference championships where he not only won both IM events, but he set the all-time Clemson record for the 200 IM (1:48.10) and 400 IM (3:51.68) as well.

Women’s Lineups Leading the way for the orange team on the women’s side will be junior Jenna Burtch, senior Caroline Peterson, and sophomore Caroline Peterson, who is ranked eighth (23.59) on Clemson’s all-time list in the 50 free, will also compete in the 100 fly. Lindsey Kroeger earned All-ACC and honorable mention All-America honors for her performance as part of the talented 200 and 400 medley relay teams that participated at the ACC and NCAA Championships.

The white team will feature honorable mention All-Americans Mandy Commons, Mandy Commons holds the Clemson record in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.86), and senior Patty Hider is ranked fourth on Clemson’s all-time list in the 50 free (23.21). Joining Commons and Hider will be junior Elise Thieler, who not only won the ACC title in the 100 fly last season, but ranks second in Clemson history in the 50 free (23.14) as well.

Marchionda’s thoughts on the meet and the upcoming season “One goal of the Orange and White meet is to get the freshman some experience as to what a college dual meet is like. The other goal is to see the team for the first time in a race situation,” said Marchionda. “The freshman class, especially on the men’s side, has really impressed me. In our test set, Buddy Reed swam the fastest timed 2000 that I have seen in a couple of years.”

Marchionda is pleased with the progress of this year’s team thus far. “I’m really excited about where we are in practice, and the Orange and White will be used as a learning tool to determine what we need to do to improve,” said Marchionda. He has also been impressed with the work rate and leadership being displayed by the upper classmen. “Ginny Kirouac and Matt Wilson has come back in great shape to defend his ACC titles (200 and 400 IM), ” said Marchionda.

Schedule of Events 50 free 100 breast 100 back 100 fly 1m diving 200 free 200 IM 200 fly 3m diving 100 free 200 back 500 free 200 breast