The University of Evansville swimming and diving team will kick off its season this weekend as they host Southern Illinois at Wyttenbach Pool on Saturday at noon and will be on the road Sunday at Fishers, Ind. to face St. Louis, Valparaiso, and Butler.

The future of the UE swimming and diving team is bright. After bringing in a class of 18 freshmen last season, head coach Rickey Perkins and the Aces will once again welcome a large class with 15 newcomers on the 2008-09 team. Joining the newcomers will be two seniors, eight juniors, and 16 sophomores.

“This team is full of great people with great character,” said Perkins. “This can bring nothing but good to our program and to the University.”

Seniors James Nash and Brian Gray have had a lot of success during their four years in the Aces’ swimming and diving program. Nash was a Sun Belt Conference Swimmer of the Week in 2007 and had the team’s best times in three events. Gray has been a consistent swimmer and a leader for the Aces, wrapping up top finishes in several meets last season.

“James and Brian are two great guys,” said Perkins. “James is more relaxed and poised than ever. We have seen a lot of good changes in Brian already this season. Both have been here for four years, and I think this could be the crowning season of their achievements.”

Backing the seniors on the men’s side will be juniors Kyle Affoon, Derek Bifulco, Josh Fletcher, Austin Murphy, and Brad Tipton. After missing most of last season, Affoon is back and will be competing in the backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle events. Bifulco had very good times in the 100 and 200 breast last year, winning the 100 breast at Missouri State. Fletcher returns to the diving board for his third season where he earned the Sun Belt Conference Diver of the Week in 07-08. After missing most of his freshman campaign, Murphy put together a strong season as a sophomore with several top three finishes in the 100 and 200 free. Tipton has been a consistent swimmer over the past two seasons and will compete in the 100 and 200 free events for the Aces this season.

The women return three juniors in Nicole Lodewyk, Anna Luecke, and Ady Sekely. Lodewyk was a strong performer for the women in the IM events last season. She had a second place finish in the 200 free at Rose Hulman. Luecke has been consistently good for the Aces and had wins in the 50 free at Rose Hulman and IUPUI. Sekely had the team’s best time in the 400 IM, which she swam at the Missouri Valley Conference Championships. She also finished strong in the butterfly events and won the 100 fly at Rose Hulman.

The sophomore men include Andrew Balczo, Michael Cowl, Wil Fernandez, Zach Kanet, Chris Nash, Will Spradley, and Nick Wenz. Balczo had a good year diving in his first season and picked up a first place finish in three-meter diving against Missouri State.  Fernandez will anchor the sophomores, having ended the season with the Aces’ top time in the 400 IM. Nash was one of the Aces’ strongest distance swimmers, holding the team’s best times in the 500 and 1000 freestyle.

There are nine women back for their sophomore season including Kristyn Benter, Jennifer?Childers, Stephanie Kauffman, Lisa Murphy, Christina Schmidgall, Annie Shackelford, Kaitlyn Sluka, Amy Smith, and Diane Threlkeld. This group was especially strong as freshmen and had several first place finishes between them. They were anchored by Schmidgall, who had the top time in the MVC in the 1000 free and was second best in the 1650 free. Childers was named the MVC?Diver of the Week and is one of only two female divers this season.

The men will welcome six freshmen this season with the additions of Caleb Gorrell, Colin Gray, Bryan Hamann, Jacob Harrington, Daniel Jackson, and Brandon Long. The newcomers on the women’s side are Ashley Altmeyer, Murphy Barry, Kassandra Beseau, Alexandra Howard, Valerie Jones, Sarah Kanet, Rachel McCoy, Bridget Niezer, Hannah Quast, and Alexandra Spata.

“Our newcomers bring a lot of energy and different ways of looking at things,” said Perkins. “We are very excited about the future of this program. We have a large amount of talent from so many backgrounds that will definitely benefit this team. We are ready to have a great season.”