RIVERDALE, N.Y. – Manhattan College head swim coach Walter Olsewski (Class of 1968) announced the addition of 12 new swimmers to the Jasper program on Tuesday afternoon. Each one will begin their career in Riverdale this coming fall as members of the Class of 2017.
“We have a very ambitious schedule set up for the 2013-14 season,” Coach Olsewski said. “I am counting on all twelve of these swimmers to have an immediate impact on the dual meet schedule.”
On the women's side, seven new members join the roster as Kiersten Buelow, Whitney Perez, Madison Brown, Ellen McTigue, Patricia Colton, Sara Buckley, and Abagail Dempsey will all be Jaspers this coming fall.
Buelow (Murietta Hills/Murrietta Hills, Calif.) will be looked upon to strengthen Manhattan's presence in the distance freestyle events while Perez (Santa Catalina/Monterrey, Calif.) adds depth in the sprinting events. Colton (Washingtonville/Washingtonville, N.Y.), Buckley (Ward Melville/East Setauket, N.Y.) and Dempsey (Scranton Prep/Scranton, Pa.) are also expected to participate in the shorter distances while Buckley is strong in the middle distance freestyle as well.
Along with competing in both middle and distance events, Brown (Fallston/Joppa, Md.) will be called upon in multiple butterfly events. Rounding out the women's recruits is McTigue (Kennedy Catholic/Somers, N.Y.) who boasts impressive times in both the breaststroke and backstroke.
As for the men, Olsewski has been tasked with replacing a group of graduating seniors that has elevated the Jaspers to a contender with the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). Richard Llewellyn, Mike DiMaria, Peter Hubbell, Patrick Simonson, and Thomas Fitzgerald will look to help carry the torch left by seven graduates.
Llewellyn (East Islip, N.Y./East Islip, N.Y.) has posted top times in the 200 and 500 freestyle during his high school career while also competing in both the 100 and 200 butterfly. DiMaria (Half Hollow Hills/East Huntington, N.Y.) will bolster the butterfly swimmers along with seeing competition in the 200 and 400 Individual Medley's.
Both Hubbell (Cold Spring Harbor/Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.) and Simonson (St. Joseph's/Metuchen, N.J.) are expected to compete in the sprint events with Hubbell also taking part in the butterfly. Fitzgerald (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) will join his brother Kevin Fitzgerald on the Manhattan roster and help with the depth of the Jaspers fly and sprint teams.
Each recruit will join a program that saw another rise in performance, breaking multiple records over the postseason and seeing numerous swimmers place at the MAAC Championships.
