Team looks to next season

With a 1-5 dual meet record heading to Florida for the Holiday Training Trip, the IU men's swimming and diving fans might start asking themselves, "So what are we looking like next year?"\nIt has been a rough year for the Hoosiers so far, with tough losses to Big Ten foes Wisconsin and Northwestern and a lot of health problems among the squad. However, while the team's excess of injuries may not have been anticipated within the program, it was anticipated that the squad may have a rougher year, performance-wise, than in past seasons.\nFive divers and one swimmer are being redshirted this season to make way for a very strong squad during 2004-05. While one redshirt swimmer, junior Thomas Clavier, is a transfer from Tennessee and is required under NCAA regulations to sit out for one season, redshirting five divers was a tough call for the coaching staff, but a risk that IU swim coach Ray Looze is willing to take.\n"This is a rebuilding year," Looze said. "(IU diving) coach (Jeff) Huber and I decided to take a hit on the talent that would be available to us this year." \nAmong the talent on the diving board being stockpiled for next year is senior Marc Carlton, perhaps the team's best performer. As a junior at the NCAAs last year, Carlton placed sixth on the 3-meter board and finished eighth on the platform (10 meters) to earn All-American stature. He is currently using his year off from collegiate competition to train for the upcoming Olympic Games.\nSeniors Alex Burns and Brian Metzler, sophomore Brian Mariano and freshman Taylor Roberts will also be active for the Hoosiers next season, strengthening a squad that currently only has one active diver, junior Ryan Fagan. While Fagan feels like he gets a lot of support from his swimming teammates, he is still very excited about the prospects of having a much deeper diving team next year.\n"My teammates have been supporting me the whole time, so I don't feel like I'm the only one out there," Fagan said. "We're going to have an awesome year next year with that many divers. We should have a real strong team."\nAdding depth to the swim team next season will be Clavier, who will no doubt be eager to continue a collegiate career that is just beginning. A breaststroke and IM specialist, Clavier had some strong showings with the Volunteers, including a sixth place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke at last year's SEC Invitational. He said his stay in Bloomington, so far, has been pleasant, and he is glad that he made the transition.\n"The guys are great here," Clavier said. "We all get along, and the coaching is awesome. It's just a great overall University."\n-- Contact staff writer Scott Lipsky at slipsky@indiana.edu.