The Penn State Altoona men's and women's swimming program is poised to make waves in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference this season, as the Lions make their return to the water in 2021-22.

The Lions had their normal regular season schedule and conference championships wiped out last year due to COVID-19, and the teams were limited to just a pair of meets during the spring. Now, fourth-year head coach Brad Brooks and his program are excited about the prospects of success this upcoming season.

Men's Swimming

Penn State Altoona's men's squad features a roster size of 12, highlighted by five strong returners: senior Bryce Bauer (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone), junior Isaac Swanson (Clearfield, PA/Clearfield), and sophomores Ethan Andrews (McVeytown, PA/Mifflin County), Noah Jordan (Clearfield, PA/Clearfield), and Tomasz Zukowski (Slatington, PA/Allentown Central Catholic).

Bauer is in his fourth season with the program and brings plenty of experience in a number of individual and relay swims. Swanson was the AMCC's Men's Swimmer of the Year and Men's Newcomer of the Year in 2019-20, took AMCC all-conference honors in four different events in that year's championships, and had a hand in setting 10 new program records throughout the season. Andrews, Jordan, and Zukowski all return after getting their feet wet during the team's abbreviated season last spring.

"We return a really solid group from last year's team, which will provide leadership for the large incoming class. Bryce has been a consistent force in the sprint group throughout his four years here, and we are excited to help him finish his career strong. Isaac comes back after an extremely strong freshman campaign that saw him win swimmer of the year, and he's done nothing but work to continue to get better," said Brooks. "Noah will look to become our program's second-ever swimmer to finish in under a minute in the 100 breaststroke. Tommy and Ethan are both extremely dedicated and bring much-needed leadership to the team in a variety of events, which helps us through our dual meet season."

The men's roster is rounded out by seven talented newcomers: sophomore Matt Lenze (Duncansville, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) and freshmen Gabriel Flores (Ashburn, VA/Rock Ridge), Matthew Langland (Dillsburg, PA/Northern York), Luke Pletz (Jefferson Hills, PA/Thomas Jefferson), Yash Ray (King of Prussia, PA/Conestoga), Flavio Tokunaga (South Korea/Seoul Foreign School), and Laurence Wang (New Zealand/Auckland Grammar School).

"We have an outstanding class of newcomers that will make an immediate impact at the championship level. Sophomore Matt Lenze is in his first year with the team and will give us much-needed depth through the breaststroke events. Laurence and Yash will lead our sprint free and fly groups, and both have the potential to break school records before the winter break," said Brooks. "Luke, Gabe, Flavio, and Matthew have already been putting in great efforts in workouts, and all have the ability to compete in fly, back, free, and the IM events. The entire incoming class has stepped up to the challenge they have in front of them, and we look forward to getting into meets over the next few weeks and competing."

Women's Swimming

Like the men's team, the Penn State Altoona women's swimming roster returns a strong core of swimmers from last year while adding new talent and depth to their lineup.

The women's team's 12-swimmer roster is led by four returners: juniors Grace Dangelo (State College, PA/State College) and Avery Heisey (Lancaster, PA/Conestoga Valley) and sophomores Camille Izdepski (Lusby, MD/Patuxent) and Sarah Petry (St. Benedict, PA/Cambria Heights).

Dangelo was the 2019-20 AMCC Women's Swimmer of the Year and Women's Newcomer of the Year, took first team All-AMCC honors in five different events, and helped set eight new Penn State Altoona women's swimming program records during the season. Heisey, in the 2019-20 season, earned first team All-AMCC status in four different events and was second team all-conference in one event, and she put her name in the program's record books in four different events. Izdepski and Petry both return after gaining their first collegiate swimming experience last spring in the team's pair of meets.

"We return a strong core of women's swimmers this year. Grace and Avery, who were the first and third-highest point scorers at the 2020 championships, return for their junior years and will lead the team, both in and out of the pool. Both have the ability to swim a variety of events at meets and win," Brooks stated. "Sarah and Cammy can swim pretty much any freestyle event between the two of them, and both show up and get the work done every day. I'm excited to see them compete in their first conference meet this spring."

In addition to the returners on the women's roster, the team welcomes eight newcomers: freshmen Eve Chery (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick), Madison Coleman (Altoona, PA/Tyrone), Grace Frey (Wayne, PA/Conestoga), McKenna Holl (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin), Josephine Parillo (Phillipston, MA/Narragansett Regional), Hailey Toth (New Ringgold, PA/Tamaqua), Angela Tramontana (Scotch Plains, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial), and Emma Wallace (Rochester, NY/Wayne Central).

"We have a huge class of eight women that will totally change the face of the program. Madison comes in with times in multiple events that could get her into 'A' finals at the conference level in sprint events, and Josie also sprints and has a ton of potential, which we have been working on exploring at practice. Grace and Hailey give us some much-needed depth in breaststroke, which has traditionally been a weakness for our team," said Brooks. "Emma and Angela will swim a lot of freestyle and help cover the mid-distance events. Eve and McKenna can do a lot of different events for us, but will primarily focus on backstroke and sprint free, which will be great for our relays at the end of the year."

Overall Outlook

With very strong groups of returners on both the men's and women's teams, along with the additions of talented newcomers, Brooks is very optimistic about his program heading into the season. He will also lean on his returners to help lead the way for the first and second-year swimmers, who have not yet participated in the AMCC Championships.

"One of the unique things about the cancelled championship from last year's season is that we only have four men and women out of 24 total athletes that have any conference championship experience from the 2020 meet," Brooks explained. "We will rely heavily on them for leadership as we approach AMCCs, and also take advantage of the fact that we have so many new people who can come in and kind of take the conference by surprise with their talent."

Brooks believes that his teams are set up for success this year, and, despite last year's irregular season, can take a big step forward at the conference level.

"We have the potential to be one of the best teams in program history this year. It will be exciting to see meets start and be able to adjust training plans to get us to reach our goals," Brooks said. "Our women's team will put in a legitimate effort to win a conference championship at the end of the year, and a few of our men will have their sights set on winning individual conference titles and making a push towards national level cuts. It's going to be a great year."

Penn State Altoona men's and women's swimming begins its 2021-22 season this Saturday, October 16 at 1:00 p.m., when the Lions will host non-conference opponent Washington & Jefferson College in the Adler Natatorium.