Swimming and Diving Completes Incoming Class for 2010-11

Head swimming coach Bill Ball and head diving coach Dave Maliar have announced the addition of five student-athletes to their incoming class in 2010-11, bringing the total number of the class to eight. The Blue Devils have won two Northeast Conference titles and finished second once in the last three years. They won back-to-back championships in 2008 and 2009 before finishing second last season.

The Blue Devils lose only one swimmer and one diver from last season's squad which finished second in the NEC Championship. Adding these eight student-athletes, along with a pair of redshirted student-athletes next season, will give the Blue Devils the full complement of scorers for the championships (17 swimmers and three divers).

"We are extremely excited to add this incoming class to our squad," Ball said. "We finally have some quality depth in our programs, and even during the championships seasons of 2008 and 2009 we didn't have the full complement of swimmers available to us."

Having the full complement of scorers becomes even more significant in 2011 as the conference will be going back to scoring the top 16. The last three seasons only the top 12 have scored.

Joining early signees Kasey Chilton, Kristina Gulia and Erin Massey will be divers Kathryn Nizeul and Kellyn Goldberger and swimmers Kathryn Kiely, Molly Martin, and Helene Neuhaus.

The addition of the two divers and the return of Sam Smolicz will create a very competitive atmosphere on the diving end. The Blue Devils have already had one of the strongest diving programs in the league during Maliar's tenure.

"Kathryn and Kellyn will greatly enhance the level of performance and can score very valuable points at the conference meet," Ball said. "We are excited to have them joining our program for this season."

"Kathryn, Molly and Helene will all make strong contributions and, as with the divers, greatly enhance the swimming end of the pool," Ball said. "Kathryn comes to Central with some very strong performances in the fly and mid-free events and has done so with a limited background. She is already a strong swimmer and with the added training, who knows how fast she will go."

"Molly has turned into a strong breaststroker with times that will already score in the conference meet," Ball added. "Once she adjusts to the added volume of a collegiate program, she will add great depth to an already deep breaststroke corp."

"Helene with enter CCSU as the fastest 100 freestyler we have ever had as a freshman entering the program," Ball noted. "She was a finalist at the Y National meet in April. She is a strong, gifted student-athlete that will continue to improve throughout her collegiate career."

The addition of these eight student-athletes, combined with the last two classes brought in by Ball and Maliar, will give Central the depth and ability to return to the top of the NEC in 2011. The Blue Devils have not finished lower than second in the NEC Championship in any of the last three seasons.

"This team will have the front line student-athletes the 2008 team had when they won 18 of 20 events at the NEC meet and won the ECAC meet," Ball said. "We will have even more depth than we had in 2009, something we will desperately need if we want to compete for an NEC title in 2011."