Upcoming Event: Men's Swimming & Diving versus Wyoming on October 24, 2025 at 2:00 PM
2:00 PM
Men's Swimming & Diving
vs Wyoming
The University of Utah Athletics
2005-06 Men's Swimming and Diving Outlook
12/7/2005 12:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
With back-to-back winning seasons and a Mountain West Conference Championship under its belt, it would be easy to assume the University of Utah men's swimming and diving teams would boast a lot of experience. However, youth dominates Michael Litzinger's 2005-06 team as the Utes lost 16 members from last year's championship squad.
The men started the 2004-05 season slow, dropping their first two dual-meets, but rebounded in the second half of the season to finish 4-2 overall, and 3-1 in conference play. The men earned a share of the Mountain West Conference regular-season title after being the first team to beat BYU in a dual-meet since the inception of the MWC.
The Utes return 13 athletes from the 2004-05 team that helped set three school records and win the conference title. With the loss of Evan Castro, Cody Rempfer and Matan Ratz, Utah will look to Jonathan Larsen and Sterling Richards to lead the Utes.
"Our upperclassmen are going to have to step up and lead this young team," says Litzinger. "However, with a young team comes a lot of excitement and that can be very beneficial."
Here is a look at the men's squad by discipline:
Freestyle
Jonathan Larsen, a two-time MWC champion (100 free) and school record-holder leads the Utes in the freestyle discipline. Larsen will be supported by Matthew Bailey and David Maasberg both looking to make their appearance in the MWC finals.
In the distance events, Utah will turn to senior Eric Jorgensen. Newcomer Jeremy Clark joins the Utes after claiming the 500 free junior college championship. Freshman George Evans, a state record-holder and champion in the 100 and 200 freestyle, will also add support.
Backstroke
World Championships qualifier Andrew Cole looks to make his mark by competing for the MWC title in the 100 and 200 back. Cole will be aided by David Johnson and Tanner Folster in the backstroke events.
Breastroke
With the loss of MWC champion Evan Castro, Utah will turn to a new cast of breaststrokers to buoy the team in this event. Michael DeCarolis of Switzerland and Drew Bowles, who helped Skyline High School (Utah) win three team titles in a row, will take on the responsibilities for the Utes.
Butterfly
Sophomore Andrew Brown and Larsen lead the way in the butterfly after losing Rempfer to graduation. George Evans, Ricky Nerud and John Harvey look to add support for the Utes in this event.
Individual Medley
With Rempfer carrying the medley duties last year, the Utes look to a new cast to take the reigns this year. Nick Philpot, Brown, DeCarolis and Cole will share the individual medley responsibilities for Utah.
The Utes set out to defend their title after improving the freestyle and freestyle relays from last year. The men's squad will look to not only defend their regular-season title, but to make a wave on the national level.
Diving
Sterling Richards returns to Utah for his final season to defend his 2005 MWC Championship 3-meter diving title. Damien Brown, Jacob Jewett and Andrew Jones join Richards to help bolster the diving squad. Brown looks to improve on his third-place finish in the 3-meter at the 2005 conference championships.
Players Mentioned
Fly/IM
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Diving
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Breaststroke/Freestyle
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Backstroke/Freestyle
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Diving
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Diving
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Freestyle
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Freestyle/Fly
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Freestyle/Breaststroke
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Freestyle/Breaststroke
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Freestyle
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Butterfly/IM
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Diving
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