SMU Mustang Swimming Welcomes Newcomers

DALLAS, Texas, July 2. THE SMU men's swimming & diving team announced its incoming recruiting class for the 2009-2010 season on Thursday. The Mustangs hope that any holes they had in their line-up will now be filled and are excited to see where this class can lead them. Along with being one of the biggest incoming classes in head coach Eddie Sinnott's 20-year tenure, it is also one of the most diverse. The swimmers represent three countries and five states as well as giving the class a local flavor with three newcomers hailing from the DFW area.

Highlighting next year's class will be breaststroker Hal Eubanks, sprinters David Larsson and Mindaugas Sadauskas and butterflyer Mike Smith.

Eubanks hales originally from Frisco, Texas, but is coming to the Hilltop from Ouachita Baptist where he completed his undergraduate degree in three years. At SMU, he will be getting his master's degree in accounting while fulfilling his final year of NCAA eligibility. At last year's NCAA D-II Championships he posted a time of 54.5 seconds in the 100 meter breaststroke to take the bronze medal. He also broke the 20-second barrier in the 50-meter breaststroke earlier in the championships. The Mustang coaching staff is hoping Eubanks will be a key piece to the Mustangs' relay puzzle.

Larsson will be making the trip to Dallas from Sweden and plans to add to the list of successful Swedish swimmers that have attended SMU. He has been tearing up the junior national records in his home country with long course times of 23.3 and 50.7 seconds in 50m and 100m freestyles and 24.8 and 55.9 seconds in the 50m and 100m butterflys.

Sadauskas is another sprinter coming to SMU from "across the pond," as he currently resides in Lithuania. Similar to Larsson, he has posted freestyle times of 23.3 and 50.6 seconds in 50m and 100m freestyles in a long course pool and hopes to improve upon those times once arriving on campus.

Smith is a native of Hinsdale, Ill., a Chicago suburb, and specializes in butterfly. A strong and diverse athlete, Mike swam to a fifth-place finish in the Illinois state championships with a time of 49.2 seconds in the 100m butterfly. The coaches at SMU are excited to see just how far they can take the strong 6'3" butterflyer.

Also making their debut on the Hilltop will be Californians Tommy Jankovich (sprint free), Mark Reese (breaststroke), Scotter Ogilvie (sprint free) and Rickey Wilson (breaststroke). Bobby Jones, a middle distance freestyler and butterflyer, will be coming down from the St. Louis area, while Julian Fletcher, a breaststroker who attended high school at Suffield Academy in Connecticut, will be coming from his hometown in Bermuda. Rounding out the class will be two Dallas area natives, Fernando Lara, a versatile swimmer who trains with the Dallas Mustangs, and Hugo Martinez, a freestyler/butterflyer from the City of Plano Swimmers (COPS).

When asked about the class, Coach Sinnott said, "This class exemplifies what SMU swimming and diving is all about – combining domestic and international talent in the pool and in the classroom. It will set a strong foundation for the next four years, and it will be fun to watch these guys develop. I'm excited to be a part of that."

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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