ECU Swimming

Coming off of a season that saw the women’s team go undefeated, the men’s team lose twice all year, and the head coach pick up his 500th career victory, many would argue that the Pirate Swimming & Diving Team would be hard pressed for a better season. However, 33 year Head Coach Rick Kobe, begs to differ. In fact, he believes that his current team may be on course to be the greatest group ever.

When it comes to getting down to the basics, Kobe already had a summer plan to get his team into shape.

“To be a top-level D1 swimmer, it just doesn’t happen in the school year, you’ve got to go home and train,” Kobe said. “We had nine kids train with East Carolina Aquatics over the summer, and everybody else went back home to train with their club programs. So they all come back in pretty good shape.”

A few of the notable returnees coming back this season include the sophomore diving duo of Alicia Rouche and Ashley Sams, who both competed in the Regional Zone B Diving Championships held in Greensboro, N.C. as freshmen. Also returning is junior Megan Sellers, who competed in the Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships held at the University of Minnessota and senior Rokas Cepulis, who competed during the Men’s Championships held at the University of Texas at Austin.

With all of the talent that Kobe has returning, he’s also added 13 new faces to the roster as well. Some of those include Boleck DePawlikowski, a three-time Florida high school state champion, and Jake Minasi, a South Carolina native who just so happens to claim six state titles by himself.

“You’re only as good as your incoming class,” Kobe said on his new recruits. “We’ve got some really talented folks here and now it’s just going to come to play how they work out. Potentially this could be one of our best freshmen classes, but only time will tell.”

Time may tell, but the impact of those freshmen would have to be immediate as they look to replace the production lost by former seniors Attila Kiraly and Anna Gibas, both of whom provided a definite spark for the Pirates in the water.

As the Pirates move into a new conference, their priorities of winning a conference championship still remain at an all-time high.

“Whether we lose one, or two, or none, or three, this is a very talented team,” Kobe said. “We should win more than we lose and we’ll have an excellent shot at competing. It’ll be hard but it’s nice to put yourself at the position to have an opportunity to win.”

Kobe’s focus and the team’s goal may be on winning two titles, but the steps needed to get there shouldn’t be very hard.

“We’ve got to outscore everybody,” Kobe said.

           

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