Oct. 14, 2009

- Maryland Men's Swimming and Diving Preview

This is part two of a four-part series previewing the Maryland men's swimming and diving season.

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

The backstroke looks especially strong for the Maryland men's swimming and diving team with team record holders Mitch Challacombe and Andrew Relihan returning to lead the Terps.

Challacombe, a junior, set the school record in the 100 back (48.60) in a tenth-place finish at the 2009 ACC Championships while also capturing the event at the Terrapin Cup.

Relihan, who landed on the podium with a third-place finish in the 200 IM at the ACC Championships, narrowly missed qualifying for the NCAA Championships with a school-record performance in the 200 back (1:44.52) while scoring points with an 11th-place finish.

"Mitch and Andrew are doing a good job of showing everyone how we train and the level that we train at and getting everyone up to speed and getting everyone on board," head coach Sean Schimmel said. "I'm really excited about what Mitch did last year and looking at building on that. He's very focused and I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do there. And obviously Andrew is really the guy when it comes to the 200 back."

Junior Myles Poster also returns to add leadership and depth in the backstroke lineup. Watch for newcomers Alex Spina and Drew Fisher to also make an impact.