Women's Swimming | 10/26/2016 9:30:00 AM

Wingate, N.C.----The Wingate University men's and women's swimming teams will start the 2016-17 season Friday, as the Bulldog men host the defending national champions the Queens University of Charlotte Royals at the Wingate Natatorium. The meet begins at 5 p.m. The Wingate women will visit Queens (defending national champions on the women's side) Saturday morning for an 11 a.m. start.
 
The Wingate women's swimming team finished a school-record second in the 2016 NCAA Division II national championship meet at the IU Natatorium on the campus of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Wingate head coach Kirk Sanocki was named the NCAA Division II women's swimming Coach of the Year by his peers. The Bulldog men finished 16th, only 4.5 points behind number 15 Indianapolis.
 
The Bulldog women won six 2016 national titles (three relays, three individuals). Armony Dumur ('16, Amiens, France) led the way with four gold medals (one individual, three relay). Senior Vika Arkhipova (Seversk, Russia) won a relay gold medal (400 Medley Relay) and an individual gold medal (200 Backstroke).
 
Senior Jessika Weiss (Macon, Ga.) won two relay gold medals, joining Arkhipova on the 400 Medley Relay and starting Wingate's championship haul by swimming a leg on the 200 Medley Relay. Classmate Caitlin Coughlin (Cochranville, Pa.) earned a national title by playing a role on Wingate's 200 Freestyle Relay quartet.
 
Wingate set NCAA Division II records on the way to victories in the 200 Medley Relay (1:39.90), the 400 Medley Relay (3:40.28) and the 200 Butterfly (52.52). The Wingate University swimming program has 37 national championships entering the 2016-17 season.
 
Wingate head coach Kirk Sanocki sat down with the Bulldog athletic media relations department to talk about the upcoming season. Wingate's four captains also shared their thoughts about the pre-season and what lies ahead (a transcript of the respective interviews follows).
 
Kirk Sanocki pre-season interview transcript
 
Talk about pre-season workouts…
 
Our athletic mission is the same as it has been since my first year. The parts have changed…but we are on the same page. We want to gauge our progress as we advance to the Bluegrass Mountain Conference championships and the NCAA meet. We are not going to spend time worrying about dual meets…the wins and the losses are honestly artificial.
 
Obviously, our sport is easier to quantify…as an individual sport, we are measured by time. Faster times are not the only indicator of success…but ultimately we want to work towards achieving faster times. We want to observe how our student-athletes perform in critical situations as well.
 
How has the team's attitude been to this point?
 
Our attitude has been stellar so far this year. This is important to note…since 70 percent of our team is freshmen and sophomores. Usually, the best attitude teams are filled with juniors and seniors who have significant experience.
 
When a team is young, one automatically expects them to be negative…so much has changed for them from high school to college…this can breed frustration…when it is tough to adapt to one's current situation. I haven't seen this (frustration) at all. Our younger student-athletes are following the lead of the upperclassmen. They are rising to the occasion…we are seeing good things in training. We hope this equates to significant performances down the road.
 
Share about the team's leadership…
 
The interesting part of leadership…people don't have to have the designation of captain to serve as leaders. I think our team totally understands this concept. Every student-athlete can bring leadership to the table. A captain is quiet and supportive…two of the many traits our 2016-17 captains possess.
 
Who is working hard in practice?
 
For the men, Sebastian Holmberg has done a high level of work this semester. Leif-Henning Klüver is training very hard. Øystein Fjeldberg is as steady as they come. Camden Wunderlich's first month (of training) has been better than at any point last year.
 
On the women's side, the usual suspects are doing great work. Our women's team is working very hard. Jessika Weiss has had a great pre-season. Vika Arkhipova is training hard as well. Both Mathilde Cros and Ebba Stillman have been making good progress during our training sessions. Overall for both teams…the elevation of our team's work has been impressive. If the snapshots we've seen so far are early indicators…we are way ahead of last year at this time.

Last year was special with the women's team taking second place at NCAAs…talk about your 2015-16 successes…
 
The women's achievements at the 2016 NCAA meet…were very special. The big thing for me…the people make the achievements special. On the men's side…from a personnel standpoint…several factors played in a role in the team's 16th place finish. We were disqualified from a potential high-scoring relay…but I believe when you look at the big picture…it was just as good a year for our men than any other year.
 
When you look at the big picture, the driving force for us is the fact the athletic lessons we learn enhance our achievements on the academic end. This component is very important to us. This is what it is all about…we want to finish in the NCAA top four on both the men's side and the women's side every year. It is important for us to make progress through hard work…to get to this point every year. We want our work in the classroom to reflect this determination.
 
Talk about the 2016-17 schedule…
 
We are back to our more traditional schedule with the re-opening of the Mecklenburg County Aquatics Center (MCAC) pool in downtown Charlotte. Our Blue-and-Gold inter-squad meet is always very competitive. We will see the defending national champions this weekend (Queens men Friday at Wingate, Queens women Saturday at Queens). This early-season competition will give us an idea about how we will perform under pressure.
 
Our quad meet on Nov. 4-5 (in Charlotte) will give us a good look at schools from the Bluegrass Mountain Conference. The Fall Frenzy (also in Charlotte) on Nov. 18-20 is always a good indicator of how we stack up against our competition. We are looking forward to our return to the SCAD Savannah Invitational Dec. 1-3. These events are a good scheduling line-up for us to prepare for the second semester.
 
In January, we will start with dual meets against Gardner-Webb and Catawba. Our competition at the University of South Carolina (Jan. 27-28) with Queens, East Carolina and UNC Wilmington…is as difficult an in-season meet as we have ever raced. As always, the schedule is constructed so all our student-athletes get the necessary repetitions in their specialties.  
 
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING…
Wingate's captains talk about the pre-season and the upcoming year…
 
Erika Kaspersson (senior, Eslöv, Sweden)

The Bulldogs are strong this year. With a large, diverse freshman class, combined with the experienced upperclassmen…makes the team very excited to see what this year has in store. The first two months has shown great strength and many focused minds and an ability to work well as a team. The Blue-and-Gold inter-squad meet (Oct. 15) gave everyone a good opportunity to race and it was great to see how well everyone did. I was impressed with everyone's attitudes and the team spirit shown on the pool deck. As one of the captains for the women's team, I cannot be more proud of what we have accomplished so far!

WU what? WU swim!!!

Olga Kosheleva (graduate student, Yekaterinburg, Russia)
 
This year, as always, we set our goals high; thus, since the beginning of the school year, I can see my team's desire to put its best foot forward in relation to performance inside and outside of the pool. I believe the Blue-and-Gold inter-squad meet was a good rehearsal before we get to see Queens this weekend. 
 
Lucas Cuadros (senior, Cali, Colombia)
 
Wingate Swimming is preparing itself at the level of those teams who win championships. The freshman class this year is committed to the goal, practicing very hard and contributing to an outstanding atmosphere in the team. In practice, we push each other to reach our limits, we pay high attention to detail and we are following a very well-designed program. How the journey and its challenges will unfold is rather uncertain; nevertheless, Wingate Swimming is certainly walking in the right direction. Wingate Swimming thrives to represent Wingate University at the top of the podium in the NCAA championships.
 
Mehdi Zeraidi (senior, Brussels, Belgium)
 
I believe the team did a very good job during this pre-season's practices, which was confirmed at the Blue-and-Gold inter-squad meet. We put in a lot of hard work during these early months; now it is time to see how we can transform this work into our races. The Blue-and-Gold meet was a good indicator of what each and every one of us is capable of achieving. Entering the competition phase of the season, this meet was providing very important feedback which will be useful for the rest of the year. Go Bulldogs!
 
BULLDOG NOTES
 
The College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) honored eight Bulldogs as pre-season All-Americans. On the women's side, Arkhipova, Coughlin, Kosheleva and Weiss were joined by Wingate newcomer Alex Divelbiss (Pueblo, Colo.). Divelbiss is a junior transfer from Adams State (Colo.) University.
 
On the men's side, the CSCAA named seniors Øystein Fjeldberg (Oslo, Norway) and Leif-Henning Klüver (Risum-Lindholm, Germany) and redshirt sophomore Lennart Queiss (Langen, Germany) to the prestigious list. The 2016-17 year marks the first season the CSCAA has produced a list of pre-season All-Americans.
 
The nationally-ranked Wingate University men's and women's swimming teams both finished second in the 2016 Bluegrass Mountain Conference championship meet at the Rock Hill Aquatics Center. The Wingate women concluded the 2016 BMC event with 1269.5 points, only 1.5 points less than the team's 2015 total. On the men's side, the Bulldogs compiled 1193 points. Wingate scored 97.5 points more than its 2015 total. Twelve women's teams and 11 men's squads participated in the 18th annual BMC meet.
 
In the academic realm, the Wingate swimming teams were recognized as Scholar All-America teams by the CCSCAA in June. The Wingate men qualified with a 3.45 cumulative team GPA, while the Bulldog women made the list with a 3.37 cumulative team GPA. Eighteen Wingate student-athletes were named CSCAA Scholar All-Americans.

Two Bulldog swimming student-athletes were named to the 2016 Academic All-America® at-large teams as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Arkhipova was a women's at-large first team choice, while Cuadros was a third team pick on the men's squad.
 
Cuadros is a two-time Academic All-America® choice, as he made the 2015 men's at-large second team. Arkhipova is honored for the first time in her career. With these selections, Wingate Swimming has 22 student-athletes who have earned Academic All-America® at-large team distinction from CoSIDA.
 
BULLDOG CLUB CLAM BAKE SLATED FOR NOV. 4
 
The Wingate University Bulldog Club is hosting its sixth annual Clam Bake at the University Lake Friday, Nov. 4 (doors open at 6 p.m.). Everyone is welcome as the University celebrates Homecoming weekend. On the same day, the 41st annual Bill Connell Memorial Golf Tournament will be contested at Eagle Chase Golf Club. The shotgun start is slated for 9:30 a.m. Both the Clam Bake and the BCMGT benefit deserving student-athletes.
 
WINGATE UNIVERSITY
 
Wingate University, consistently ranked as a top 10 "best value" in the South by U.S. News & World Report, serves more than 3,100 students on three campuses in Wingate, Charlotte and Hendersonville, N.C. Founded in 1896, the University offers 35 undergraduate majors, 34 minors, 12 career concentrations, nine pre-professional programs, master's degrees in accounting, business, education, physician assistant studies and sport management and doctorates in education, pharmacy and physical therapy.
 
With a 14 to 1 student/teacher ratio, Wingate students gain the tools and support needed to excel in academics and apply that learning toward an extraordinary career and life. To view current news, video and story ideas, visit www.youtube.com/wingateuniversity. 
 
In addition to a robust intramural athletics program, Wingate student athletes compete in 22 NCAA Division II sports. The University has won the South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award for the past 10 years. For more information, go to www.wingate.edu.
 
Wingate is first among NCAA Division II Academic All-America®-producing colleges in the 2000's with 86 selections. Among North Carolina's colleges and universities, Wingate is number one in this millennium with 86 Academic All-America® honorees. Wingate is tops among all SAC schools with 95 lifetime Academic All-America® picks. For more information on WU athletics, go to www.wingatebulldogs.com.