Oct. 13, 2009

- Maryland Women's Swimming and Diving Preview

This is part one of a four-part series previewing the Maryland women's swimming and diving 2009-10 season. Today, freestyle events will be featured.

Today - Freestyle
Wednesday - Backstroke
Thursday - Fly and IM
Friday - Diving and Overview

Maryland boasts a solid balance in the freestyle this season with the return of sophomore Ginny Glover, junior Annie Fittin and fifth-year senior Laura Wright as well as welcoming newcomers Sophie Allen and Megan Lafferty to the group.

Glover, who also holds the school-record in the 200 back (1:57.07), scored points for the Terps in the 200 free with a ninth-place finish while also competing with the fourth-place 400 free relay at the 2009 ACC Championships. She also helped guide the women's team to a Terrapin Cup title with a pair of third-place finishes in the 200 and 500 free.

"Ginny came in last year and made some big jumps to impact our conference and be a top-8 scorer and score in three events," head coach Sean Schimmel said. "I'm only looking for her to build on that this year and be more of a force in the conference."

Fittin has been a critical component of both the 200 and 400 free relays her first two seasons in College Park and the 2009-10 season should be no different. In addition to being a member of school-record fourth-place 400 free and sixth-place 200 free relays at the ACC Championships, she also picked up a pair of career bests and finished 11th in the 100 free and 19th in the 50 free at the 2009 ACC Championships.

Wright appears to be completely healed after a shoulder injury sidelined the transfer from Rutgers a couple years ago. She swam four personal-best times last season including three at the ACC Championships in the 100 free (50.15), 200 free (1:48.17) and 200 IM (2:03.77) and one in the 50 free (24.10) in a dual meet against Georgetown in early February.

"Laura, like all of our seniors, knows how important this last year is for her," Schimmel said. "She is really ready to step up and do some things differently and get it done. Last year, she just got back to where she was and now she's ready to build on top of that."

Allen and Lafferty are two highly-touted recruits that will only strengthen the freestyle event for Maryland. Allen held six school records at Boulder High School in Colorado while Lafferty holds nine school records at Upper Dublin High School in Pennsylvania.

"We are really looking for both Sophie and Megan to add depth for us," Schimmel said.

Other returners for Maryland in the short free include sophomore Lia Reich and junior Blair Cross.

"We are looking for Lia to really shine through in the 100 and 200 free...that's really her forte," Schimmel said. "Blair will compete in the 100 and 50 free and be one of five or six girls that are viable for the 200 and 400 free relay. It's going to be pretty competitive there."

The long distance free events will be youth-laden with freshmen Kim Larson, Katie Hughes and Addison Koelle filling in the gaps. Koelle is a versatile swimmer and will likely be used in an array of events, including the 500 free.

Sophomore Erin Stout and junior Stephanie Parker will return in expanded roles in 2009-10.

"We are looking for Erin and Steph to score points for us in the 500 and 1000 this season," Schimmel said. "I am hoping both of them are real team players in those events."

Sophomore Martha VanLieshout will also be looked at to make a bigger impact this season if the Terps wish to improve on its fifth-place finish at the ACC Championships last season.