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Mollie Walker of the Daily Collegian profiles Owen Wright who had a strong performance at last weekend's dual meet against Brown despite battling the flu. Wright has been having a banner season overall for the Minutemen in the pool in a number of events.
Peter Gobis of the Attleboro Sun Chronicle has a story on local natives who helped the UMass men's swimming and diving team capture the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship last weekend. Head coach Russ Yarworth is highlighted as a native of Attleboro and the amount of success he has been able to bring to the program during his long tenure with the Minutemen.
The UMass men's and women's swimming & diving programs collected a pair of top 2 finishes, led by the Minutemen's come-from-behind effort on the final day to capture their 15th team title in league history. Alessandro Bomprezzi was named the Men's Performer of the Meet, while Russ Yarworth and Mandy Hixon collected the Men's Coach of the Year and Men's & Women's Diving Coach of the Year, respectively.
Jason Kates of the Daily Collegian has a recap of this past weekend's Atlantic 10 Swimming & Diving Championships where the UMass men took second place and the women finished third.
The Daily Hampshire Gazette did a Q&A with Men's Swimming and Diving Coach, Russ Yarworth. He has some funny answers you might enjoy reading! Here's a sample of some of answers.
Education: Attleboro High School, 1974; bachelor's degree in biochemistry from UMass, 1978; and a master's degree in exercise science from UMass, 1983
Who lives under the same roof as you? My wife, Sue, and all our critters
Children: None
Pets: Dogs -- Chili, a 15-year-old golden retriever, Buster, a 6-year-old Aussie mix, and Jep, a 3-year-old Aussie mix; a cat -- Mika, 14; and a parrot -- Marigold, maybe 50 years old or so
Hobbies: Camping, biking, swimming, kayaking, skiing, gardening
Book you'd recommend to a friend: Anything by Nelson DeMille
Favorite movie/TV show/musical group: Movie -- Mel Brooks' "History of the World" or "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"; TV Show -- "Seinfeld"; Group -- Joe Strummer and The Clash
Five things you can't live without: My wife, my dogs, my siblings, my stopwatches, my health
Last thing you purchased just for fun: A kayak
What's at the top of your bucket list? Skiing the Alps
Life-changing experience: Choosing to attend UMass. It gave me an education, a profession, and a home
Mike Gillmeister of the Springfield Republican spent some time with the UMass swimming & diving teams last week and authored a piece on the season outlooks on the various strokes and specialties.
UMass men's swimmer Hao Luong has had a long journey to the University of Massachusetts, but not much can compare to what the sophomore back/fly specialist will accomplish today in Boston.
Daily Hampshire Gazette writer Matt Vautour sat down with Luong and head men's coach Russ Yarworth and penned the following piece on his journey to U.S. citizenship.
Hao Luong already feels like an American. Today, he'll make it official.
The sophomore on the University of Massachusetts swim team will officially take the oath to become a naturalized citizen at a ceremony at John F. Kennedy Library in Boston.
"I'm just happy and excited to become a citizen here," said Luong, a sophomore whose name is pronounced "how long." "It was one of my goals. When I passed the test this summer, it felt like I accomplished something."
The ceremony will be the end of a long journey for Luong, who turns 20 next month.
Job Baker of The Woonsocket Call has a feature on UMass swimming alum Chris Payson who is coaching the Shamrock Swim Club. Payson started the club at the urge of local swimmers and the group has grown from day one.
John Torsiello of the Housatonic Times has a profile piece on UMass men's swimming freshman Alex Bieber.
Taylor Snow of the Massachusetts Daily Collegian writes a wrap up of the swimming & diving season opener from the weekend in which the men's team tied Boston University, 149-149, while the women fell to the Terriers, 177-122. Both teams saw some terrific individual performances, including divers Alexander Merkulov and Michaela Butler, and freshmen stepping up for both teams in their collegiate debuts, including Hao Luong, Zoe Judd, and Katie Arnott. The Minutemen and Minutewomen travel to West Point, N.Y. this weekend for tough tests against talented Army squads.
Swimming and diving teams open up season - Daily Collegian
Merkulov and Luong were honored on Tuesday when they were named Atlantic 10 Performer and Rookie of the Week, respectively.
Dan Guttonplan of the Newburyport News has a great feature on UMass men's swimmer Dan Backer. The story focuses on Backler's college jounrey - from having his program cut at Rhode Island, to transferring to UMass, to being an Atlantic 10 Champion in multiple events, exceeding the expectations of many.
"He can walk away from the pool, after winning that 100 breast, holding his head high," Head Coach Russ Yarworth said. "I couldn't have predicted he'd swim that fast. It was one of the highlights of my coaching career. It was one of those swims -- I'm getting goose bumps thinking about it."
Nick Bellofatto of the Daily Collegian has a story on the UMass Swimming & Diving teams' performances at the A-10 Championships this past weekend in Buffalo. The Minutemen claimed their fifth-straight and 13th overall title, while the Minutewomen put in a very strong performance, placing third. It was a tremendously successful meet on both sides as numerous school records fell. In addition, the following individuals were recognized:
Women's Most Outstanding Diver: Molly Elkins
Women's Diving Coach of the Year: Mandy Hixon
Men's Most Outstanding Rookie: Chris Inglis
Men's Most Outstanding Diver: Jason Cook
Men's Co-Coach of the Year: Russ Yarworth
Men's Diving Coach of the Year: Mandy Hixon
The Massachusetts men's and women's swimming teams are preparing for their biggest challenge of the season thus far; a road trip to Boston University for the Terrier Invitational Tournament. The preliminaries for the tournament begin Friday, Nov. 19 at Competition Pool and run until the finals of the tournament are concluded on Sunday night.
Check out the Daily Collegian's Nick Bellofatto's preview of the weekend as well as UMassAthletics.com's preview.
Nick Bellofatto of the Daily Collegian previews the men's and women's swimming & diving teams' road meet at Stony Brook this weekend. Both teams are riding high coming off a sweep of Army in the home opener last weekend. Bellofatto points out the the Minutemen and Minutewomen will both be looking for their first victory of the season in enemy waters as both teams fell at Boston University in the season opener two weeks ago.
The Daily Collegian has two stories on the UMass men's swimming team as it prepares to begin the season and defend its Atlantic 10 title. Nick Bellofatto has the team's season preview, while Ben Lambert has a story on the swimming & diving team's tri-captains, Dan Backler, Brian Schmidt, and Adam Duffield.
The Minutemen open the 2010-11 on Oct. 16 at Boston University. The first home meet of the season will be on Oct. 23 against Army.