Five Swimmers Join Virginia Men's Program
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia head swimming coach Mark Bernardino has announced the signing of five future Cavaliers who will swim for the men’s program in 2012-13.
Nick Alexiou (Clearwater Beach, Fla.), Rodney Fentress (Mechanicsville, Va.), Eric Holden (Orange, Conn.), Luke Papendick (Kinnelon, N.J.) and Chris Webb (Paradise Valley, Ariz.) will join the Cavaliers as the class of 2016.
“We are very pleased with this class,” Bernardino said. “We know our recruiting isn’t finished; there are a couple of pieces to the puzzle we hope to add in the spring. This early signing period, however, proved to be fruitful. We have young men of high character, quality individuals, outstanding students and leaders in their respective communities. All five have met 2012 Olympic Trials qualifying standards and are USA Swimming senior national qualifiers.”
The Virginia men have claimed 14 Atlantic Coast Conference titles, including the last four, and 11 of the last 12. The Cavaliers finished eighth at the 2011 NCAA Championships to mark their highest finish in program history and have a string of three consecutive top-10 finishes.
Nick Alexiou
Clearwater Beach, Fla.
Clearwater Aquatic Team (Randy Reese)
Free
SCY
100 Free: 44.89
200 Free: 1:36.27
500 Free: 4:24.30
LCM
100 Free: 51.54
200 Free: 1:50.34
400 Free: 3:57.18
800 Free: 8:19.96
Of Note
• 2011 Summer Junior national champion in the 200 freestyle
• 2011 Florida state champion in the 200 and 500 freestyle events
• Olympic Trials qualifier
Bernardino on Alexiou: “We are getting a versatile swimmer in Nick, someone who can cover the range of freestyle events from the 100 all the way through the mile. He has a tremendous amount of untapped potential. We think his future is very bright. Nick swims events in which we have historically produced outstanding swimmers. The closest athlete I liken him to, without putting too much pressure on him, would be a Matt McLean. A quality individual with a tremendous work ethic, we are very excited to have Nick on board.”
Rodney Fentress
Mechanicsville, Va.
Burkwood Aquatic Club (Craig Clift)
Free
SCY
500 Free: 4:28.02
1000 Free: 9:16.52
1650 Free: 15:17.77
LCM
400 Free: 4:00.26
800 Free: 8:13.52
1500 Free: 15:46.51
Of Note
• Olympic Trial qualifier
Bernardino on Fentress: “Rodney is a great story; he has followed Coach Clift to two different programs to train under him. He is an outstanding distance freestyler. We think as he gets stronger over the course of the next couple of years that he will really develop in the middle distance events. Right now, the mile and the 1000 are his two best events. He has a very strong work ethic and that fits the mold of our distance program. Rodney is an open book – very outgoing and enthusiastic. We think he is a really positive addition from that perspective as well.”
Eric Holden
Orange, Conn.
SoNoCo Swim Club (Tim Quill)
Breast
SCY
100 Breast: 56.37
200 Breast: 2:04.03
LCM
100 Breast: 1:04.13
200 Breast: 2:18.54
Of Note
• Olympic Trials qualifier
Bernardino on Holden: “We were looking to add a breaststroker to our class and Eric is an interesting story. He is a triplet who was born at UVa Hospital. We found Eric at junior nationals and had a chance to watch him again in the spring and summer. We were impressed. We think he is a special swimmer who has come on rapidly in the last year and a half. Eric is strong and has a very explosive kick. We look forward to him being an excellent breaststroker.”
Luke Papendick
Kinnelon, N.J.
Lakeland Hills YMCA (Keira Cruz)
Back/Free/IM
SCY
100 Back: 48.44
200 Back: 1:44.56
50 Free: 21.15
100 Free: 45.84
200 Free: 1:39.85
200 IM: 1:49.83
LCM
100 Back: 56.76
200 Back: 2:03.65
Of Note
• 2011 Summer Junior national champion in the 100 backstroke
• Olympic Trials qualifier
Bernardino on Papendick: “Nick joins Chris Cooper (2002-05) as Virginia swimmers from the Lakeland Hills program. He also is a summer junior national champion, the first time in my memory that we have two junior national champions (along with Nick Alexiou) in the same recruiting class. Luke is an outstanding backstroker but he is also a really good 200 IM’er and 100 and 200 freestyler, so he brings a lot to the table. We are really looking to Luke to strengthen a lot of our relays, both the medley relays and the freestyle relays. He is a big kid who is very athletic. He should be an immediate impact player in our program.”
Chris Webb
Paradise Valley, Ariz.
YMCA Westside Silver Fins (Matt Rankin)
Free/Fly/IM
SCY
200 IM: 1:51.61
400 IM: 3:52.52
200 Free: 1:39.60
500 Free: 4:28.16
1650 Free: 15:29.10
200 Fly: 1:49.52
LCM
200 IM: 2:08.57
400 IM: 4:25.43
800 Free: 8:22.31
1500 Free: 15:57.81
200 Fly: 2:05.61
Of Note
• 2011 Arizona state champion in the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle
• Olympic Trials qualifier
Bernardino on Webb: “Chris is a very versatile swimmer who gives us middle distance freestyle, is a great individual medley swimmer and a good 200 butterflier. He brings as much versatility to our program as any athlete in this class. He fills a lot of needs. Chris is an outstanding young man. He comes from a swimming family and is very intelligent and strong. We believe over the course of the next four years, Chris is going to continue to develop and broaden some of his talents. We look for him to have a great career at UVa.”