I was a bit worried by the early swims by the men, but the win over Northwestern was nice. The early swims were sloooowwww.

And the women started strong already. Bultman's recruiting class looks superb. I hope Rebecca Sturdy is fully recovered from her injury last year.

Can both teams finish Top 10 this year?

If the women stay healthy, I don't see how they can't...it looks like Bultman's freshman class is loaded...how about that 23.13 50 free out of the Estonian girl against Missouri...that is SMOKING for this early in the season...

I agree about the women. And the freshmen will probably improve drastically through the season. Bultman's single problem is getting his swimmers to perform at the NCAAs. That and keeping them from DQ'ing on relays.

The women look great. It seems like since Steve has been there the women have had great recruiting classes and this years has the potential to top them all.

The men look like they have a lot of potential. Hopefully the slow early swims just mean that Jay is training them hard and they are torn down. More than almost any other sport, what happens in the beginning of the season doesn't really matter. Every season is defined by the championship meets.

[This message has been edited by H2OPoloAg02 (edited 10/28/2005 12:33p).]

I think the women generally are getting to the point where they are swimming at NCAA's the way they swim at Big 12s...That wasn't the case a few years ago because they weren't fast enough to get to NCAA's and had to go all out at Big 12s just to make the meet...the talent is finally there to be top 10...keeping them healthy will be the big key now...

Lookout - your explanation about NCAAs vs. Big12s makes sense.

Do you guys know what Sturdy's status is? She hasn't swum in any of the meets yet.

Also - how do they choose who to take to road dual meets? Is there a limit to how many can travel?

I would expect to see Sturdy soon or else they should redshirt her...no sense in blowing another year to swim just half of one...boy would she make the Ags deadly if she's anywhere near 100 percent...

I'm not surprised to see the article about Boyd being promoted. I'm currious about why? I don't know much about the guy, but he seems to be a promising young coach, so my first thought was that it was a way of keeping him close to the program because of another offer? Any thoughts, comments, or inside info?

My theory (and that's all it is) on Boyd is that he has already been recruited. If you were a Div 1 program and wanted an assistant with a solid rep - why not try to get a guy away from A&M, a program with (perceived) question marks? Things are looking up in swimming - I was concerned about the men until I saw the recruiting class this year. I think this is the year for Holmes to show what he can do. Byrne did Holmes an injustice his first year by giving him a one year contract - which scared recruits away from A&M. But now Holmes has a multi-year contract and securing Boyd will help with stability.

A&M loses some good seniors after this year - Sullivant, Dawson, Newman, Kemp. We need to show momentum to recruit next year's class. We won't have a sub-20 50 free guy next year and we have no one that can consistely swim 200 free under 1:40. Texas has four or five that do that, including a freshman.

For what it's worth, my sons went to A&M swim camp this summer and liked Boyd most of all. Better than Bultman, who they said talked constantly about having coached an Olympian (prior to A&M).

I would imagine a) having Byrne as the AD and B) having him fire Nash so soon after arriving has done more damage as far as recruiting American kids than anyone really realizes...regardless of his reasons, Byrne got rid of the programs at two major Div. I universities that weren't exactly in the poorhouse...that sends a bad, bad message to swimming recruits and don't kid yourself that every school we fight for recruits with tells them that...Holmes is probably forced to go overseas to find difference makers...he's probably going to be forced to do that until the grade-A talented Americans realize this program isn't going anywhere; it will be a very hard thing to convince them of when the AD fires a coach that was 12th at NCAA's the year before...Nash was the only coach that produced results the year Bill fired him which looks very shady, particularly in light of his reputation for killing swim programs...if Holmes was smart he'd make every decent American recruit have a sit-down with Bill...

with that said, the Holmes/Boyd combo has already made its mark with Mel's leftovers...last year's srs outperformed anything they did when Nash was here...that should tell you why Boyd was promoted...considering his track record as a head coach, I would imagine that people came after him

bottom line is that they need to get more talent...plain and simple...


[This message has been edited by Look Out Below (edited 11/2/2005 10:36a).]

I think the womens team is a lock for top 10, the men will probably hover around 10-15 this year, depending on diving.
For the women, I hear Sturdy ain't ever coming back, but that is rumor, not fact. Good thing that she would help, but they don't NEED her. Relay DQ's are typical for young teams at NCAA's, hopefully we are over that.
For the men, I see Ryan Kemp breaking 20 this year, and i think he has more eligibility left. the real key is to get 4 guys who can flat start a 44 second 100, then you for sure score in both the 200 and 400 free relays and hope you can get a few points in the 800 and maybe some medley relays. But the guys should be on the fast track for moving up. of the 28 guys on the team, for 13 this is their first year swimming in college (thats just about half for those that aren't good with fractions), and neither of the olympians are competing this year.
The guys were slow in the early season for sure, but the times were a good bit better vs. kentucky. look at the sprints, most of the guys went half a second faster.
I have faith in bultmen tapering the women. The first year i saw him work near conference i thought they were going to swim like poop because they weren't getting any rest, but i am 100% sure that he has the art of tapering women down to a science.

oops, forgot to mention, I hear that bill has actually stopped by to say hi to some swimming recruits and has been a help, so i'll give him kudos for that.

Are you sure Kemp has more eligibility? I agree he is swimming well. He wasn't a 50/100 guy before A&M. I think he was a 200 free + breastroke guy. I think A&M always intended to turn him into a sprinter.

Several of the freshmen have not raced at all this year - especially Zdersar. Why wouldn't he race - when he already has times faster than the A&M record?

As for Sturdy - She was mentioned in Bultman's preseason preview as possible. Was her injury that severe? The freshmen women, especially Hansen, are swimming very very well so far. It seems possible we could finish higher than tu this year. They have not looked particularly fast - they have a coaching controversy, and Hayley has not raced yet.

Not sure about kemp...i thought he was a junior but didn't check.

The two olympians have to wait to compete next year due to some complicated eligibility tanglements that I don't fully understand (Sometimes I think the NCAA regulates how much you can urinate in a single year and links it to eligibility).

I don't know much about sturdy, except what I hear, and I hear she won't be swimming.

Only one of the two Olympians is not swimming - Zdesar. Picasso, the other Olympian, is swimming right now.

I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Sturdy swimming very soon.

The TAMU web site lists Kemp as a senior and in the bio it lists highlights of his FR, SO, and JR years.

Kemp is a senior. He's had a good year so far swimming times comparable to Sullivant.

I agree on what you said about the Texas women. If the Ags swam them this weekend, I think it would be a toss-up. I can't remember the last time any one could say that. SMU kicked their teeth in without McGregory and Tinnon a few weeks ago.

Agreed on Hansen too. She was a huge pick-up. As good as she's swimming, one of her other freshman teammates is the Big 12 Swimmer of the Month (Aljand). Bultman did a hell of a recruiting job last year. I hope he keeps it up.

[This message has been edited by Look Out Below (edited 11/14/2005 11:38p).]

Hansen seems to be able swim FAST any distance of freestyle. And her relay splits are also very good. Triin is very fast.... Also impressed with Kristen Heiss. So many of the freshmen (women) are close to the fastest on the team in their events.

check out the fastest times list on the web...all the ones you mentioned are the fastest...things bode well for the very near future...I can't wait to see what times they throw up in the invitational meet this weekend