College sports are all about recruiting. Coaches need to plan for the future and build their teams on a strong foundation of young talent.
And that's exactly what Penn swimming coach Mike Schnur has done.
The Quakers showcased their freshman talent yesterday during the first day of the Ivy League Championships in Princeton, N.J.
At yesterday's preliminaries, Penn freshman breaststroker and individual medley swimmer Brendan McHugh dove into the Penn record book in a race that greatly impressed his coach.
"McHugh demolished the school record in the 200 IM preliminaries," Schnur said. "His swim this morning was unbelievable, it was great .. It was one of the best swims we have had as a program, period."
Schnur believes that spectators have not even seen McHugh at his best yet.
"Brendan broke the school record in the 200 IM," Schnur said, "but [it is] not his best event - his best event is Saturday in the 200 breaststroke."
In addition to McHugh, fellow freshman Jeff Cragg also excited Schnur, placing third in the 1-meter diving finals.
"That is the highest we have had anyone in diving in years and years," Schnur said. "Ten years ago we had a guy finish seventh, but other than that no one has made finals since Jeff's dad [Rob] in the 70s."
Penn's youthful talent is needed now more than ever before, as Ivy League swimming has become even more competitive.
"The meet in general right now is way faster than it has ever been," Schnur said. "Times that we put in that were significantly faster than what we did last year are going to finish significantly lower in the standings. That is just the level of our league right now."
Schnur believes that the fact that the Quakers have a freshmen-heavy lineup is a terrific sign for the future.
"I think that is a pretty telling statement of where we will be in the future," Schnur said. "Almost every person that made it back this morning is a freshman."
The most important races will begin today and end Sunday with the crowning of an Ivy champion.
Penn is strong in the 100 back, 100 breast, 100 fly, 200 free and the 1000, which all take place today. It needs strong showings in those events since right now the team is in fifth place (Princeton leads).
Schnur said that he expects Chaz Maul, the Quakers' senior breaststroker and captain, to take home a few pieces of hardware.
"I expect Chaz to record his best time, be under the school records and compete for an Ivy Championship."
