Though its season hasn't even started yet, the men's swimming team is already plagued by injuries.
Senior Steve Martucci underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum last month, and on Tuesday, senior Chaz Maul broke his hand. Freshman diver Jeff Cragg is nursing a broken toe, but with two of his four elder statesmen down, coach Mike Schnur has been forced to rely on more of his younger swimmers.
"We have guys to step up," Schnur said.
He singled out freshman Brendan McHugh, a product of Sicklerville, N.J., who specializes in breaststroke.
"He's a terrific swimmer, Schnur said. " He's got to step up and replace Chaz, which is not easy because Chaz is one of the best swimmers in the league."
While the freshmen are being given the opportunity to fill in empty slots on the team, Schnur is also looking to the eight juniors to shoulder the load.
"It's our time to shine now," junior Kyle Loughran said. "We have a lot of really great juniors and seniors that were overshadowed by last year's seniors, and now it's our time to break through and show what we can do."
The Quakers are determined to improve on last year's disappointing finish - eighth out of nine teams at Eastern Intercollegiate Swim League championships.
"This year were looking for about third place," Loughran said. "There's really not a record on the board that should be safe this year. We're really looking to take all of them down."
Specifically, Loughran thinks that the team needs to work on its kicks and underwater fly.
The plan is to use the Kenyon Invitational in early December as a benchmark for their progress.
"We're not ready yet," Schnur said. "We're still training hard to be breaking school records. But in three weeks we might."
In the meantime, the Red and Blue are comforted knowing that meaningful meets are still a long time away.
"You can go 0-7 and still be league champions at Championships," Schnur said.
Three weeks should also give the freshmen time to adjust to collegiate swimming. As they fill in vacated places, the earlier meets will be used to experiment on new lineups and relays.
"We're playing around a lot," Loughran said. "We have a big freshman class, and they're all really talented swimmers, but they don't know how to react in a meet-type situation. So, our first couple meets will be about seeing how people react to their races and seeing what they can do."
