Team Introductions: Our Junior Class

This year's women's junior class is the first to be recruited by Head Coach Andy Bashor. During their freshman year, the team jumped from a 8th place finish in 2007 at the MAC Championships to a 5th place finish in 2008, and their preformances helped make that happen. The men's team experienced a much smaller class that same season as a change of head coaches was felt during the recruiting process. These 3 men have improved tremendously over the past 2 season and we are excited to see how much more they will improve this season.

Jordan Deren (Lackawanna, NY): Distance Free; majoring in political science/pre-law. Jordan is the school record holder in the 1650 Free as well as the 400 and 800 Free Relays.

Jessie Koltz (Chenango Bridge, NY): Sprint Free/Fly; majoring in psychology. Jessie is the school recorder in the 200 and 400 Medley Relays as well as the 200 and 400 Free Relays.

Alisa Koopman (Clifton Park, NY): Distance Free/IM; majoring in business management.

Ashley Olsen (Tonawanda, NY): Free/Back; majoring in biomedical sciences. Ashley will be graduating this May, a year early, with hopes of continuing onto medical school.

Cat Scharf (New Hartford, NY): Sprint Free/Fly; majoring in psychology. Cat is the school record holder in the 200 Free Relay.

Renae Sharkey (Fords, NJ): Free/Back; majoring in exercise science. Renae will be returning this Fall following a back injury that kept her out of competition all of the 2008-09 season. We are looking forward to her return.

Sterling Gell (Lansing, NY): Sprint Free; majoring in business.

Jake Matter (East Aurora, NY): Diving; majoring in pharmacology.

Colin Wilbert (Albion, NY): Sprint Free; majoring in mathematics and computer science.

Team Introductions: Our Men's Senior Class

This year's men's senior class is no stranger to adversity. Following their freshman year, a coaching change was announced and current Head Coach Andy Bashor took over the men's program. They were immediately asked to commit to a different training philosophy and environment, and have since stepped up to the challenge. These seniors can proudly say they have had a tremendous impact on the recent success of the Swimming & Diving program at Buffalo!

Jordan Matthews (Burnt Hills, New York): Breaststroke; majoring in mechanical engineering. Jordan is a school record holder in the 200 medley and 400 medley relays.

Mike McDowell (Rush, New York): Diver; majoring in matematics. Mike is the school record holder on both 1-meter and 3-meter, and is a 2-time NCAA Division I qualifier on platform.

Zach Ruske (Superior, Colorado): Backstroke/IM; majoring in communications. Zach is the school record holder in the 200 back, 200 IM, and 400 IM as well as the 800 Free Relay. He was the 2009 MAC Champion in the 200 back.

Kevin Song (Ottawa, Ontario): Breaststroke; majoring in biomedical pharmacology.

Andrew Tamchyna (Newmarket, Ontario): Backstroke/Sprint Free; majoring in engineering physics. Andrew will be one of our team captains for 2009-10 season.

Connor Vander Zalm (Kelowna, British Columbia): Distance Free/IM; majoring in business. Connor is the school record holder in the 1000 free and 1650 free. He was the 2009 MAC Champion in the 1650. Connor will be one of our team captains for the upcoming season. He was also a captain during the 2008-09 season.

Scott Woster (North Pole, Alaska): Butterfly/IM; majoring in chemical engineering. Scott is the school record holder in the 200 Fly.

Team Introductions: Our Women's Senior Class

This year's women's senior class will be the first graduating class at Buffalo to swim their entire collegiate career under Coach Bashor. Although these women were not recruited by the current coaching staff, they were apart of the first group to fully commit and buy into the new team philosophy and goals. We are looking forward to watching them as they finish out their careers as members of the Buffalo Swimming & Diving Program!

Jessica Ballard (Hilton Head/Charleston, South Carolina): Backstroker/IMer; majoring in Fine Arts. Jessica is the school record holder in the 200 Back as well as the 200 Medley, 400 Free, and 800 Free Relays.

Meili Carpenter (Boulder, Colorado): Diver. Meili graduated with her undergraduate degree in Chemistry and Psychology after just 3 years. She will begin graduate school this fall in Education. Meili is the school record holder on both 1-meter and 3-meter, and is a 2-time NCAA Division I qualifier on Platform.

Kim Dale (Raleigh, North Carolina): Distance Free/IM; majoring in nursing. Kim was one of our co-captains during the 2008-09 season.

Emily Day (Speedway, Indiana): Middle Distance Free/Fly; majoring in business/marketing.

Sam Eckert (Eden, NY): Butterfly; majoring in hearing and speech sciences. Sam is a school record holder in the 200 Medley and 200 Free Relays.

Ursula Jeske (Rothschilld, WI): Diver; majoring in exercise science.

Sam Palma (Lancaster, NY): Sprint Free/Fly; majoring in history. Sam is a school record holder in the 200 and 400 Free Relays.

Laura Powalski (Williamsville, NY): Sprint Free/Back; majoring in business. Laura will be one of our co-captains this season. She was also a co-captain during the 2008-09 season.

Caitlin Reilly (Brockville, Ontario): Backstroke; majoring in international studies. Caitlin will be one of our co-captains this season.

Ashley Schaffert (Lockport, NY): Breaststroke/IM; majoring in graphic design. She is a former school record holder in the 200 and 400 Medley Relays.

Meet the Coaches - Asst. Coach Courtney Kostival

Assistant Coach Courtney Kostival will begin her 4th season with the Buffalo Swimming & Diving program this fall. As the primary coach for the distance group, Courtney uses her experiences as a collegiate swimmer, both in and out of the water, to motivate the team to succeed beyond their own expectations. This past season, 2 Buffalo swimmers broke the school records in the 1650 free - 2 of the oldest records remaining in the program's history. The previous women's team record was set in 2000, while the men's record was set in 1995!

While swimming at Ohio University, Courtney focused on the distance freestyle events, specifically the 500 and the 1650. She began her collegiate career as a walk-on, in the truest meaning of the word, and graduated as a conference finalist in both of these events. It was a journey that she is very proud of and wouldn't change for any other.

After finishing her eligibility at Ohio in 2004, Courtney continued to work with the college team as a graduate assistant coach while earning her master's degree in Coaching Education. Her primary coaching responsibilities involved working with the distance group, including many of her former teammates. Courtney's move to Buffalo took place shortly after finishing grad school in the spring of 2006.

Meet the Coaches - Diving Coach Karla Helder

Head Diving Coach Karla Helder will be entering her 6th season with the Bulls this fall. Since joining the Swimming & Diving staff in 2004, Karla has guided the diving program to new heights. Current Buffalo divers Meili Carpenter and Mike McDowell have rewritten the record books in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events on their way to qualifying for the NCAA Division I National Champions the past 2 seasons. Meili is UB's first participant at the Women's Division I Championships while Mike become only the second in the history of the Men's program.

Prior to taking over the diving program at Buffalo, Karla spent 9 seasons at UC-Davis, and time at both Chico State and Clemson University. While at UC-Davis, she coached 4 Division II national champions to 4 separate titles and 36 All-Americans. She was also named PCSC Men's Diving Coach of the Year in 2000 and 2003, and the Women's Diving Coach of the Year award in 2001.

Karla dove collegiately for Chico State University and was a 2-time NCAA Division II National Champion on 3-meter. She was inducted into Chico State's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999. She has also earned 30 National diving titles during her career, including several over the past 2 seasons at the Master's National Championships. In May of 2008, Karla traveled to Perth, Australia to compete at the World Master's Diving Championships. She won broke both the 1-meter and 3-meter world records in her age group (50-54) on her way to winning 2 gold medals. In 2006, she set the world record for the 45-49 age group on 1-meter.

Meet the Coaches - Assistant Coach Aaron Bell

Assistant Coach Aaron Bell will be entering his 3rd season with the UB Swimming & Diving program this fall. As the primary group coach for the middle distance group, Aaron has brought a new level of excitement and enthusiasm to the program. As a collegiate swimmer at Clarion University, he was a 20-time NCAA Division II All-American, specializing in the backstroke and freestyle events. He uses the experience as a very successful swimmer to motivate and guide the team to move up the conference ranks. Since joining the coaching staff in 2007, Aaron has been instrumental in guiding many of Buffalo's current swimmers to school records in both individual and relay events.

Prior to coming to Buffalo, Aaron spent time coaching at Ohio University and the University of Miami (FL). As a graduate assistant coach at Ohio, he worked with both the middle distance and distance groups, and was actively involved in recruiting for both the men's & women's teams.

Aaron and his fiancee, Courtney Gould, will be getting married tomorrow, Friday, July 10th. Congratulations to Aaron & Courtney!!!

Meet the Coaches - Head Coach Andy Bashor

Head Coach Andy Bashor will begin his 4th season as the head coach of the Women's team and his 3rd season with the Men's team this Fall. Since taking over the Women's Swimming & Diving program in 2006, the Bulls have rewritten the record books and made their mark on the Mid-American Conference. The women's team jumped from 8th place to 5th at the 2008 MAC Championships. At this year's championships, the women broke 10 school records, including all 5 relays, and shocked the conference by winning the 200 Medley Relay in a Conference Record time of 1:39.74! We placed 8th in the same event just 2 years ago. . .what a difference 2 years can make!

The Men's program has made some very impressive improvements of their own over the past 2 seasons under Coach Bashor's direction. During the 2008-09 season, UB had 3 conference champions (Zach Ruske - 200 back, Connor Vander Zalm - 1650 free, Jake Sangren - 100 back) and placed 5 athletes on the All-MAC 1st Team - the most in school history. A total of 12 school records were broken throughout the season, including 4 of the 5 relays!

Andy came to Buffalo after spending 4 seasons at Rutgers University as the Head Assistant Coach. During the 2006 season, he helped lead 7 women to the NCAA Champions where the team placed 18th. Prior to his time at Rutgers, Andy spent 4 seasons as the Head Assistant at UC-Santa Barbara where he worked directly with the sprinters and breaststrokers. His coaching career started at Ohio University where he was the graduate assistant for 2 seasons.

Andy swam collegiately at North Caroline State University, specializing in sprint free and fly. He was a team captain during his senior year. He graduated with a degree in biology in 1996.

Andy lives in Lancaster, NY with his wife Brandi and their 3 children, Allie (6), Bobby (4), and Colby (2). . .see picture above!

Swimmers & Divers Earn Academic Honors

The College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) announced its Scholar Athlete Awards this week. The Buffalo Women's Team earned All-American status by achieving a 3.34 team GPA for the spring semester. The Men's Team also earned All-American status with its 3.11 team GPA. Teams with a 3.0 GPA or higher were recognized by the CSCAA.

Juniors Mike McDowell and Meili Carpenter were named Academic All-Americans for the second consecutive season. To be selected to the All-American team, individuals had to qualify for the NCAA Championships and achieve a 3.5 GPA or higher for the semester or have a cumluative GPA above a 3.5. Both Mike and Meili competed on Platform at the Championships.

The Women's Team also had 3 individuals named to the Honorable Mention All-American team. Sophomore Jessie Koltz and Juniors Jessica Ballard & Sam Eckert achieved a GPA above a 3.5 for the spring semester. Honorable Mention selections had to acheive a NCAA "B" cut (consideration time) and a GPA of 3.5 or higher. Jessie, Jessica, and Sam were all members of our MAC record setting 200 Medley Relay team.

Great work Bulls!!!

Welcome to Buffalo Swimming & Diving

Welcome to the University at Buffalo Swimming & Diving blog! We want to wish sophomore Brynn Marecki good luck at the World Championship Trials next week in Indianapolis. Brynn is coming off of a breakout freshman year in which she was a member of the conference championship 200 medley relay as well as a finalist in the 100 and 200 breast.

We are looking forward to pass along more information about Swimming & Diving program in the future. Have a Happy 4th of July!

GO BULLS!