July 26, 2010
Bronx, N.Y. -
Fordham head coach Steve Potsklan and the Rams' swimming and diving squad announced an incoming class of 16 for 2010-11 season, adding four women to the 2010 Atlantic 10 Championship team and 12 men to the well-rounded roster.
The defending Atlantic 10 women's swimming and diving team will boast the fresh talent of Kara Field, Shannon Jones, Victoria Myers and junior-transfer Alexandra Wessel.
The men's side brings in the talent of Michael Abrams, Nicolas Alemann, Nicholas Belfanti, Cameron Crowell, Ben Dwyer, Jack Francis, Michael Grimmett-Norris, John Kundrat, Shintaro Noguchi, Nolan Silbernagel, William Strobel and William Thomann.
Field, a native of Itasca, Ill., swam at Lake Park High School as a freestyle swimmer under the instruction of Dan Witteveen. With Lake Park, Field was an IHSA sectional champion and IHSA state qualifier her freshman season. With her club team, the Wheaton Swim Club, she was ranked as one of the top three female swimmers in Illinois for four straight years (2007-10), she was a junior national qualifier and won the Al Zamski award for sportsmanship and leadership for three-consecutive seasons from 2008-10. Field was also named a Scholastic All-American in 2008 and 2009 and was part of the 2006 400 medley relay squad that was ranked 14th in the country. In addition to her success in the pool, Field was a member of Lake Park's National Honor Society and graduated in the top 10 percent of her class.
From Riverside, Conn., Jones swam four seasons for the Greenwich High School Cardinals under head coach Dick Hawks. A team captain her senior year, she was a four-time All-American, four-time All-State honoree and Class MVP four times. Jones set school records in the 100 butterfly, 200 medley relay, and 200 freestyle relay. She is also the Class LL record-holder in the 100-butterfly and swam as part of the State Record setting 200-medley relay squad. Jones was also a two-year letterwinner with the Cardinals water polo team.
Myers, from Essex, Ontario in Canada, is a breaststroker who swam nationally for the Windsor Aquatic Club, the Toronto Swim Club, Team Canada (2006) and Team Ontario (2008). With the Windsor Aquatic Club, she won the leadership cup, was the 2006 team MVP, the Age Group MVP from 2004-07, the 2006 Provincial Champion, and Age Group National Champion in the 100 and 200 breaststroke. With the Toronto Swim Club, Myers and the squad were runners up at the 2010 Team Championships. She is a graduate of Havergal College (secondary school).
Finally, the women will add the talent of transfer student Wessel, who swam two seasons at American University. A Knoxville, Tenn. native, Wessel swam freestyle and backstroke for the Eagles earning All-Patriot League Second Team honors, placing fourth at the 2009 Patriot League Championships in the 200 freestyle, qualifying her for the U.S. Nationals. Prior to AU, Wessel swam three years at Knoxville Catholic. She was a Junior Nationals qualifier and was a member of the Cape Cod Swim Club.
The newest men's addition begins with Abrams, a Rego Park, N.Y., native and Brooklyn Technical High School alumnus, who swam for the Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics club team. His team won the state-wide Junior Olympic High Point Award in 2007-08 and was the Runner Up at the Senior Metropolitan Championships in 2008-09.
A native of Weston, Fla., Alemann, was a letterwinner in swimming at Cypress Bay High School for head coach Laura Vera. Alemann was a two-time state qualifier and two-time team MVP. He was also team captain his senior year. In the classroom, Alemann was an AP Scholar, won the Lightning Award for Excellence and the Broward County Scholar Athlete award. He swam for the club team, Davie Nadadores. As part of the water polo team, Alemann was a captain in both his junior and senior years, was a two-time recipient of the Team Leader award and was a state team qualifier his senior year. Alemann's brother, Alejandro, plays baseball at Saint Louis University, a fellow Atlantic 10 Conference member.
A Plymouth, Minn. native, Belfanti was an All-State and All-Conference performer at Wayzata High School. Primarily swimming in freestyle and backstroke events, he earned All-American honors as a part of the 400 freestyle relay at Wayzata. He also received most improved honors as a sophomore. Belfanti also swam club for the Mach 3 Flyers for over two years.
From Duxbury, Mass., Crowell was a four-year letterwinner at Duxbury High School under head coach Jay Craft. Crowell, who specializes in the backstroke, was the team captain in his senior season and a two-time Patriot League All-Star. He helped his team to a league championship three times and swam individually at both the sectional and state championships. Additionally, he was a member of Duxbury's National Honor Society. Crowell swam for the Kingfish club team, also coached by Craft, where he qualified for the Florida South Sectionals.
Dwyer swam the individual medley and breaststroke at Pomperaug High School in Southbury, Conn., for four seasons under head coach Fran Pentino. A Middlebury, Conn., native, Dwyer was a two-time All-state and All-Southwest Conference honoree and was an automatic All-American in the 100 breaststroke and 400 freestyle relay. He was part of Pomperaug's school-record setting 400 freestyle relay squad and was also a member of the Southwest Conference All-Academic roster. With his club team, Panther Aquatic, Dwyer qualified for the Buffalo Sectionals and was top five in the 2009 Senior Championships.
Specializing in the freestyle and backstroke, Francis comes to Rose Hill from Radnor, Pa., where he swam four years for Radnor High School and coach Tom Robenson. With the Raiders, Francis helped set the school and pool record for the 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay. Francis tallied numerous postseason accolades such as All-American, All-State, All-Main Line and All-Central League. In addition to his high school successes, he also swam for the Radnor Aquatic Club team.
Grimmett-Norris, from Herndon, Va., is a multi-event swimmer, competing in the backstroke, individual medley and distance freestyle. He was a four-year letterwinner at South Lakes High School in Reston, Va., where he was one of four state qualifiers, and was named First Team All-District as South Lakes' team captain. With his club team, Grimmett-Norris was a Junior National Qualifier in 2009 and 2010 for the 1650 and 1000 freestyle, the 200 backstroke, and the 400 individual medley. From 2006-09, he was an Eastern Zone Team Qualifier and qualified for the Eastern Zone Sectionals SCY and LCM from 2008-10. Grimmett-Norris was fifth in the 2008 Virginia Beach Open Water Mile Swim and was a Smith Mountain Lake Mile Swim Summer Team All-Star.
A Laurel, Md. native, Kundrat specializes in the freestyle and individual medley. The DeMatha High School alumnus swam four seasons at DeMatha, where he served as the team captain. He earned 2010 All-County honors and Boy's Swimmer of the Year. Kundrat was a Washington Post All-Met honorable mention swimmer and helped set the DeMatha record in the 200 freestyle relay and was a 2010 WMPSSDL All-League honoree. He swam for the Retriever Aquatic Club, where he was a sectional qualifier, a junior national qualifier and a member of the Maryland All Star team.
Noguchi is from Tiburon, Calif., and was a two-year captain on the swim team at Redwood High School, earning the best newcomer award and was a two-time winner of the most inspirational award and team MVP. He swam for the Marin Pirates club team, where Noguchi finished 17th at the Junior Nationals, was the 2007 Pacific Swimming Most Outstanding Swimmer, and was the second place high point winner at the Lost Dutchman Invitational.
From Oak Ridge, N.J., Silbernagel was a four-year letterwinner in the breaststroke and freestyle at Jersey Township. He was a three-year team captain and three-time All-League SCIL honoree, posting school records in the 100 yard breaststroke and 200 medley relay. Silbernagel also swam for the Lakeland Hills YMCA Swim Club, where he was a two-time YMCA Nationals qualifier and a National YMCA Top 16 Swimmer. He was also a Sports Ambassador for People to People Program and medaled in the International Youth Games in Austria. Academically, he was the school winner and State Finalist for the Wendy's High School Heisman Scholarship. Silbernagel's brother, Kyle, was a 2008 Fordham graduate and a four-year member of the men's swimming team.
Strobel, a Bronx, N.Y., native, is comfortable with the Rose Hill Campus as he is a graduate of Fordham Prep. Strobel swam four years at the prep under head coach Dom Galimi in the breaststroke events. Strobel was a member of the 2009 and 2010 CHSAA New York State Team, serving as the 2009-10 team captain. He won the most improved award for 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons, and won the coach Bill Fife Spirit Award for the 2009-10 season.
From Cheshire, Conn., Thomann swam the backstroke and individual medley for Xavier High School under head coach Keith Nicholas. At Xavier, he was a two-time All-Conference and All-State selection (2008, 2010), and won most improved swimmer in 2008 and the senior award in 2010. He was part of the school record-setting 4x100 free relay team. Thomann was an All-Area selection by the Hartford Courant, the Middletown Press, and the New Haven Register. Thomann swam for the SoNoCo club team where he was an Age Group Champion, a Senior Open Champion, a sectional qualifier and a team record holder in the 200 medley relay.
