Men's Recruiting: #10 - Minnesota

10 Minnesota In many ways, Dennis Dale is the envy of coaches everywhere. He coaches his alma mater, has an awesome pool, right there in his hometown. Best of all, he isn’t hampered by the squad size restrictions that plague programs across the country. It’s a luxury other coaches wish they had.

“We maintain a fairly large team at Minnesota (around 40 athletes) and generally try to recruit a freshmen class in the 10-12 range,” Dale explains. But a large class doesn’t mean limited opportunities. “We believe that all of our incoming student/athletes will contribute at the Big Ten Championship level before they graduate. We are fortunate to have an athletic administration that provides the support needed to carry a large squad and a facility that is state of the art.”

This year’s class fits the bill perfectly. It’s deep, talented and fits the Gophers’ needs. It also has some guys that Dale likes to call, “in development”. It’s a group that he takes significant pride in.

Mike Holmes arrived on the Minnesota campus as one such “Development Guy.” He leaves as an All-American. To fill the hole left by his departure, Minnesota went out and Michael McBroom and Matt Benecki. With Olympic Trials’ cuts, the pair are more than just in development, they’re ready for the big time.

Backstroke was a more pressing need and Minnesota found it met by Goran Majlat. The 6’6” Croatian was already on Minnesota’s radar before going 19.63 in the 50 Free for Limestone College, but his development as a backstoker made him a must-have for Dale and assistant Bill Tramel.

Minnesota added a second Croatian, Hrvoje Capan to their roster in May. Capan is an exceptional short-course sprint freestyler swimmer who follows in the footsteps of past Croat Igor Cerensek, Mario Delac, and Ales Volcansek. It’s a relationship Dale is, “excited to keep strong.”

As with distance, Minnesota’s incoming “Development” breaststrokers arrive on campus more advanced than their predecessors did. More impressively, they all have a lot of room to grow. The scrappy Josh Hall comes over the border from Wausau while Jared Anderson arrives from Brainerd, a city better known for Paul Bunyan than breaststroke. Evan Lee-To will likewise try to step into the legacy left by big brother Colin.

The rest of the class, Sean Nesheim, Conor Murphy, Ben Griggs, and Jack Poletto round out a class that Dale has high expectations for. “Once these guys

get into our program, gain strength, and mature as athletes,” he explains, “they will be our top line swimmers when they become upperclassmen.”

12	74.02	Capan, Hrvoje	Mladost, Croatia
22	71.02	Majlat, Goran	Split, Croatia	Limestone College Transfer
80	63.69	McBroom, Michael	The Woodlands, TX	The Woodlands Swim Team
203	54.56	Hall, Joshua	Wausau, WI	Wausau Tide
209	54.29	Nesheim, Sean	Everett, WA	Cascade Swim Club
221	53.45	Benecki, Matthew	Chantilly, VA	The Fish
357	45.36	Lee-To, Evan	Minnetonka, MN	Mach 3 Flyers
396	43.54	Anderson, Jared	Brainerd, MN
427	41.32	Murphy, Conor	St. Louis, MO	Parkway Swim Club
430	40.92	Griggs, Ben	Fargo, ND	Northern Lights Swim Association
453	39.00	Poletto, Jack	Aurora, IL	Delta Aquatics