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The University of Utah Athletics
Utah Swimming & Diving Holds Alumni Meet
9/25/2010 12:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
Sept. 25, 2010
SALT LAKE CITY -- For homecoming weekend, the current members of the University of Utah Swimming and Diving team and those from past years united at the Ute Natatorium for the third annual alumni meet.
"It's important for the team to understand the traditions and history of where their team came from," said head Coach Greg Winslow. "We've had a very successful morning with our alumni."
A few of the Utah alumni here included last years' Beth Gunderson and Annie VanLeeuwen who has taken up the Graduate Assistant Coach position for Utah this year. Also in attendance was Evan Castro who graduated in 2004, Jonathan Larsen and Erik Jorgenson from 2006, as well as 1985 graduate Pat Hayes.
Holding the school record in the 200 free for the past 25 years, Hayes says he is always happy to come back to the Utah pool. "We used to do the alumni meet back in the early nineties, and then they stopped for a while. I'm so glad Greg and the coaches brought it back. It's crazy when I can still beat some of the current swimmers... it makes me feel good though. Swimming has always been such a huge part of me so to be able to come back and be a part of this meet is really special."
After qualifying for the Olympic trials of 2008 in the 50 free, Larsen says that even after training and racing alongside Michael Phelps and other Olympic swimmers, coming back to the Ute Natatorium is a little strange. "To come back to the pool I swam in twice a day, every day throughout college is amazing... but it makes me nervous! It's good to see new faces and old faces alike for some friendly competition. Today was a blast!"
Jorgenson, who is still commonly seen at the Utah meets looks forward to the annual alumni meet, saying, "I would cry if I couldn't come." He had a lot of fun psyching up the current team, claiming that he was going to beat them only to "make a fool" of himself when the race started.
After all, as assistant coach Charlie King said, "the alumni meet is all about having fun and being proud to be Utes."
From the cheers, laughter, and all-around encouragement among the swimmers in the Ute Natatorium this weekend, it sounds like the alumni meet certainly achieved that.
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