Missouri State Men Add Five in Pursuit of MAC Title Defense

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Photo Courtesy: Missouri State Athletics

SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State University Head swimming and diving coach Dave Collins added two swimmers and one diver to the men’s 2018-19 roster and completed the Bears’ five-man signing class on Thursday, April 19.

In addition to diver John David Spence and swimmer Alexander Stamatin, who signed National Letters of Intent on Nov. 17, the crew will welcome Trevor Fischer, Kai Gotsch and Pawel Krawczyk to the pool next season.

“Overall, it’s not a large class, but we really addressed the needs that we had coming off the year as we look to defend our MAC Championship,” head coach Dave Collins said.

Trevor Fischer, 5’11”, Diving, Eureka, Mo., Eureka HS

A two-sport athlete at Eureka High school, Fischer is a three-year letterwiner as a diver for the Wildcats. In his senior season, he was named the Most Valuable Diver and an All-State First-Team member after finishing second at the state meet. Along with his athletic achievements, he received the Rockwood Board of Education Award. Fischer earned the Diving 110% Award in his junior season and earned All-State Honorable Mention status. As a sophomore, he was awarded Diving 100% and Most Improved Diver nods. Along with his efforts in the pool, he was a three-year letterwinner on the Wildcat baseball team. He garnered Perfect Game Baseball Preseason All-American honors as a junior and was a Perfect Game Baseball All-Region selection in his senior campaign.

Collins on Fischer: “We’re really excited to add Trevor to next year’s squad. Diving has been a real priority in this signing class for us and the minute I started talking with Trevor about his future goals and what he what he wanted to accomplish as a collegiate student-athlete, both academically and athletically, I knew that he would be a great fit for us. He’s a little bit late getting into the sport – he played competitive baseball for much of his youth – but has really come on strong this last year. We’re very excited to add Trevor to this squad.”

Kai Gotsch, 6’0”, Free, Vista, Calif., Rancho Buena Vista HS

A four-year letterwinner at Rancho Buena Vista High School, he finished third in the 400 free relay at Junior Nationals. He set the school record in the 200 and 500 free as a junior and was voted the team’s captain and most valuable swimmer. Gotsch finished second in the 200 free at the California CIF San Diego Section Championships as a junior and sophomore and was awarded more MVP honors in his freshman and sophomore seasons.

Collins on Gotsch: “Kai adds a lot of depth in the sprint freestyle events for us. That’s an area that we also had as a priority in this class and Kai adds a lot of talent to our freestyle group. We are also hoping that he will help strengthen some relays as well. He’s a tremendous kid with a great work ethic, a lot of upsides and we really like what we have in Kai.”

Pawel Krawczyk, 6’2”, Free, Warsaw, Poland, Joachim Lelewel High

Competing on the big stage, Krawczyk earned two top-10 finishes at the 2017 European Junior Championships. He finished seventh overall in the 1500 free (50-meter pool) with a time of 15:28.03 and collected an eight-place finish in the 800 free (150m pool) in 8:08.85. Picking up one of the best swims of his young career, the Poland native earned a silver medal at the Polish Championships in the 1500 free (25m pool) with a speedy time of 15:01.27.

Collins on Krawczyk: “Pawel will be a major contributor right off the bat. His distance times are going to be very, very competitive at the NCAA level. Distance freestyle has been a strong suit for us and we’re excited to continue that with Pawel.”

Fischer, Gotsch and Krawczyk round out the Bears’ 2018-19 signing class.

Press release courtesy of Missouri State Athletics.

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