Jan. 21, 2004
MILWAUKEE -
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The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men and women's swimming and diving program return home for the first time since Nov. 8, 2003. The Panthers will be hosting the Bill Ritter Memorial Invitational at the Klotsche Center Pool on the campus of UWM. The two-day event will begin on Friday, Jan. 23 with the first session set to start at 4:30 p.m. The meet will continue on Saturday, Jan. 24 at 9:30 a.m. and will conclude the final session Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. The meet will feature five other teams besides UWM. Competing in the invitational will be teams from Butler, Illinois State (women only), Marquette University club team, Illinois-Chicago and UW-Green Bay. Last year, the Panther men placed 2nd in the event while the women went on to score a 1st-place finish. The Panther men and women each enter the event on the heels of team victories at the Bob Mowerson Time Trials back on January 5, 2004.
Diving Changes
The diving portion of the Bill Ritter Memorial Invitational was scheduled to take place at the Schroeder YMCA in Brown Deer, Wis., but has been moved, due to pool construction, to the diving facilities at the University of Illinois-Chicago. The diving competition will still take place on Friday, Jan. 23 at 11 a.m., but will take place down in Chicago.
Florida Brings Sunshine and Success
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men and women's swimming team turned the gloomy skies of winter into their own form of sunshine and happiness. The Panthers, competing in sunny Ft. Lauderdale, Florida during the winter break, continued to build on a solid first-half of the season by taking the victory on both sides in the Bob Mowerson Time Trials on Monday Afternoon. The men, who placed third in their last meet, claimed a victory with 232 team points. The women, who have been as hot as the Florida sun, have not finished lower than first since October 26, 2003 and continued their dominance with a convincing first place finish, scoring 269 team points.
The Panther men came away with seven top-three finishes in the meet. Michael Belting claimed first in the 400-meter freestyle by finishing with a time of 4:19.48. Freshman Dana Elzea finished in third. Josh Baseheart swam away with a win in the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 54.89. Tim Watt and Adam Steffes claimed second and third behind Baseheart. In the 50-meter backstroke, Ryan Frohmader swam his way to a top finish with a time of 31.02. Justin O'Keefe finished in third with a time of 31.79.
The Panther women swam away with six top-3 finishes on the day. Jen Kedinger paced the way with a victory in the 400-meter freestyle, finishing with a time of 4:47.14. Teammate Amanda Schmitt finished right behind Kedinger with a time of 4:47.66. Julie Olson claimed the win in the 50-meter backstroke, swimming a time of 32.56. Freshman Lindsay Caldwell swam away with the victory in the 100-meter freestyle, finishing with a time of 1:01.88. Her sister, Sarah Caldwell placed second in the 50-meter breaststroke while Heather Sawatzki claimed second-place in the 50-meter butterfly.
"Our team came into the afternoon meet off of a very intense morning practice and performed extremely well," Panther head coach Dave Clark said. "Both our men and women are really showing a positive form of competitiveness and are trying to make each other better in every event and it's been showing."
League Honors
Though the university was on a break, the UWM Panthers, like many other teams, continued to swim in competition. Over the holidays, two panther swimmers, Michael Belting and Sarah Caldwell were named Horizon League Athletes of the Week for the first week of 2004.
Belting, a native of Owatonna, Minn., was a member two Panther relays that placed second in the Ed Kennedy Relays on December 31, 2003. The junior was a part of the 150-meter backstroke relay and the 200-meter freestyle relay team. Belting came back on Monday, January 5, 2003 to record a first-place finish in the 400-meter freestyle event at the Bob Mowerson Time Trails with a finishing time of 4:19.48. Belting's victory earned him the Asher Cup, awarded by the Philadelphia Athletic Association.
Caldwell, a West Bend native, was a member of two first-place relay teams for the Panthers at the Ed Kennedy Relays on Wednesday, December 31. Caldwell was a member of the 200-meter medley relay team that swam to the victory with a time of 2:12.44 and the 150-meter breaststroke relay team that won with a finishing time of 1:50.85. Caldwell also helped the Panthers by recording a second-place finish in the 50-meter backstroke at the Bob Mowerson Time Trials on Monday, January 5, 2004. Caldwell is one of the reasons that the Panther women have been finishing first in every meet since October 26, 2003.
This is the first time that Belting and Caldwell have been named Performer of the Week this season. Belting has won the award for the third time as a Panther. This is Caldwell's first time winning the award during her career at UWM. This is the second time this year that the Panthers have claimed the Performer of the Week award for men and women.
Records Were Meant To Be Broken
"Records were meant to be broken," is a statement coaches whisper to teams that have record-breaking potential. Dave Clark must've been whispering in the ears of his women's team throughout the Wheaton Invitational because the women were breaking records like windows trying to stop falling rocks. The team set new records for the UWM program, the meet and Wheaton College pool. When all the results were in and every sheet had been checked, the Panther women had broken an astounding seven school records, set three new freshman records and attained two Wheaton Invitational meet records and pool records.
Diving In
Jeff Jasinowski won the Diver of the Year award after finishing seventh on both 1m and 3m at the league championships, despite missing a good portion of the season due to injury. He is back to lead a strong group of divers in 2003-04. Hannah Burgard was named Diver of the Year for the women after picking up a pair of top-three finishes at the league championships. Burgard was third on 1m and second on 3m, the highest finishes by a Panther diver at the meet.
Last Year At The Championships
The UWM men finished fourth at last year's Horizon League Championships in Cleveland, while the UWM women claimed a 3rd-place finish. At the championships, five school records, two freshman records and one Horizon League record were set by the Panthers. The Panthers lose just seven seniors from the two squads that competed at the championships a year ago.
Smart Kids
Three Panthers were named Academic All-District last season by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Peter Clark, who completed his eligibility last season, was joined by senior Josh Baseheart and Sarah Caldwell on the team. The only other Panther recognized with this distinction is now-assistant coach Heather Czappa, who was academic all-district in 1999.
Academics Are A Team Effort
The UWM men's and women's swimming and diving teams were named Academic All-American by the College Swim Coaches Association of America this past spring. This marks the 29th-consecutive semester the women's team has made the list, while the men's team made the list for the fourth-straight semester. The women's team finished the spring semester with a cumulative grade point average of 3.021, placing them 60th in Division I. UIC and Wright State also made the list out of the Horizon League. The men's team tied with Alabama for 15th among all Division I schools, posting a grade point average of 3.083.
Up Next
The Panthers will head to Macomb, Ill. for a dual meet against Western Illinois on Saturday, Jan. 31. The meet is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.
