Oct. 23, 2006

Two years ago the Maryland women's swimming and diving team won the ACC Championships. Last year, Maryland finished in fifth place with a 4-4 record in the ACC and a 7-5 record overall. With Dave Durden leading the Terps in his second season as head coach, the women's team looks to improve their conference placement. Coach Durden believes that the team's top swimmers, 1-8, can compete as good as or better than anyone in the ACC. The key to coming out on top will be developing a depth where swimmers 9-18 can compete with just as much of an impact.

This season, Maryland welcomes seven newcomers to the women's team. "It is exciting to have the youth that we have in our program this year," says Durden."Last year, on the women's side we only had two freshman girls, so to have seven this year is an infusion that our women's team really needed. The freshmen are tough trainers and they are tough racers. That is why they are here."

Durden says that the freshmen class is a very dynamic group that will flourish once they understand what it means to be a collegiate swimmer and what they need to do to be successful in a collegiate environment. Leading the freshmen class this season will be freshman Annie Broome (Knoxville, Tenn.) and freshman Nina Rossi (Princeton, N.J.). Broome and Rossi come to Maryland as Olympic Trial Qualifiers in the 200 fly. Durden expects then to have an immediate impact this season.

Having a relatively young squad, Durden will depend on the four seniors to actively demonstrate an understanding for how the team trains and races. He will look to senior Natalie Ferdinand (St. Thomas, Barbados) for leadership and guidance this season. Ferdinand has developed from being an exhibition level ACC swimmer to an ACC finalist last year in the 100 back. This season, Ferdinand has the ability to make an even larger jump she gains even more of an appreciation for how fast she is.

After shoulder surgery in 2005, senior Gigi deToll (Culpeper, Va.) resumed training last January and came back to swim the remainder of the season. As a senior, deToll looks to once again swim at the national level. deToll won ACCs her freshman and sophomore years in the 100 fly and went on to swim at NCAAs in both 2004 and 2005.

At the 2006 ACC Championships, senior Kaleena Laputka (Shamong, N.J.) captured three 17th place finishes in the 50 free and 100 back during preliminary competition. This season Durden believes that she will translate into a finalist at ACCs.

Senior Sasha Malanina (Volgograd, Russia) was an honorable mention All-American last season and looks to take the next step and compete at the NCAA Championships again this year. Coach Durden believes she can do this. "She put together about four or five weeks of training last year that would rival any other athlete at the NCAA level. Now we just need to expand that over the course of six months to get her ready for NCAAs, says Durden.

In addition to a group of fresh talent and an experienced senior class ready to lead the team, the squad also welcomes back three juniors and two sophomores eager to build on strides made last year. Sophomore Yelena Skalinskaya (Almaty, Kazakhstan) and junior Maya Finkler (Rishon-le-zion, Israel) each placed in the top 10 in two events at last year's ACCs. This should give them the confidence and motivation necessary to keep making improvements and take the team to the next level.

Durden (University of California-Irvine, '98) is excited to be entering his second season with the Terps, as he is "a year more experienced with the players already in the program." Kevin Clements (Auburn, '02) is also returning for his second season as assistant coach of the Terps. The staff welcomes two assistant coaches: Jarod Schroeder (Northern Illinois, '95) and Demerae Christianson (Auburn '04) who have a wealth of experience to offer the program. Also, Casey Moore (Maryland, '00) will be the head diving coach this season. Durden comments that with Moore, he "knows that the divers are being educated and that they will be brought to a level they have not experienced before."

The women's team is equipped with all the necessary components for a successful 2006-07 season. It will be beneficial that the team is scheduled to swim at North Carolina just two weeks before they swim at that same location for the ACC Championships. This will give them a chance to familiarize themselves with the venue and better prepare themselves to swim confidently at ACCs. The regular season begins Friday, October 27 with a home meet against Johns Hopkins. ACC Competition begins in Durham, North Carolina on Saturday, November 4 against Duke and NC State.