The Grand Canyon University men's and women's swimming program
announced today the addition of five student-athletes to the squad. The
men's team added three, including two from the United States and one
from Lithuania, while the women have added two swimmers, one of which
will join the team for the spring semester and hails from Ukraine.
Head coach Steve Schaffer added to his long list of impact international swimmers after bringing in Mantas Auruskevicius from Alytus, Lithuania. Auruskevicius swims for Alytus Sports Centre. He placed 24th at the 2013 World Junior Championships in the 50-yard breaststroke and in the 2013 European Junior Championships he placed sixth in the 200-yard breaststroke and 12th in the 100-yard breaststroke.
"Mantas is a world-class breaststroker who comes to us with times that are faster than NCAA B Cuts and almost certainly will be an NCAA Championship Qualifier before he is done at GCU," said Schaffer. "His times are good enough to contend for the Western Athletic Conference title in the 100- and 200-breaststroke events as a freshman. I will be interested to see how quickly he can make a run at Eetu Karvonen's team records."
"Trent is a great fit for our program. He has been rapidly improving and will make an immediate impact on our mid-distance freestyle events. He placed sixth at the 2013 December Junior Nationals in the 200-freestyle with a time that is just 0.01 slower than our current team record and will certainly be a scorer in that event at the WAC Championships. Given his rate of improvement, it is likely that Trent will be able to be a three event scorer for us at the WAC Championships as a freshman. I am looking forward to watching him just get better and better in our program."
Nathon Burwick, from Marietta, Ga., swims for Stingrays Swimming and was a Junior National qualifier for the 2012 and 2013 Winter Junior Nationals as well as the 2013 Summer Junior Nationals.
"Nathon is a very versatile swimmer who I believe has a lot of upside to his future swimming career. He comes to us with times that could score in the WAC in the 200- and 400-IM and he is close to that level in the 200-backstroke and the 1650-freestyle as well. He gives us a lot of options for depth in dual meets and I expect he will mature into one of our best swimmers by the time he is a senior."
On the women's side, Iryna Glavnyk, from Kiev, Ukraine, will join the team for the current spring semester. She swam for Delfin Swim Club. In 2012, Glavnyk was a member of the Ukrainian Olympic Team and competed as a member of their 800-yard freestyle relay in London. This past August, she competed for Ukraine in the FINA World Junior Championships, where she placed fourth in the 200-yard backstroke, ninth in the 100-yard backstroke, and 12th in the 200-yard freestyle.
"Iryna is an excellent freestyler and backstroker who will be a contender for the top places in the WAC in her events. She has extensive international level competition experience and will be a great addition to our program."
Marina Fonseca also joins the women's team, and currently swims for Thompson Valley High School and Loveland Swim Club in Loveland, Colo. At the Colorado 4A High School Championships, she placed seventh in the 50-yard freestyle and 12th in the 100-yard freestyle events.
"Marina will add some additional depth to our sprint free group and I believe that she still has a lot of room for improvement.
Head coach Steve Schaffer added to his long list of impact international swimmers after bringing in Mantas Auruskevicius from Alytus, Lithuania. Auruskevicius swims for Alytus Sports Centre. He placed 24th at the 2013 World Junior Championships in the 50-yard breaststroke and in the 2013 European Junior Championships he placed sixth in the 200-yard breaststroke and 12th in the 100-yard breaststroke.
"Mantas is a world-class breaststroker who comes to us with times that are faster than NCAA B Cuts and almost certainly will be an NCAA Championship Qualifier before he is done at GCU," said Schaffer. "His times are good enough to contend for the Western Athletic Conference title in the 100- and 200-breaststroke events as a freshman. I will be interested to see how quickly he can make a run at Eetu Karvonen's team records."
Trent Trump hails from Livermore, Calif., where he attends Granada High
School and swims for Livermore Aquacowboys. He was a 2013 Summer Junior
Nationals qualifier in the 100-, 200-, and 400-yard freestyle and 2012
Winter Junior Nationals qualifier in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle.
"Trent is a great fit for our program. He has been rapidly improving and will make an immediate impact on our mid-distance freestyle events. He placed sixth at the 2013 December Junior Nationals in the 200-freestyle with a time that is just 0.01 slower than our current team record and will certainly be a scorer in that event at the WAC Championships. Given his rate of improvement, it is likely that Trent will be able to be a three event scorer for us at the WAC Championships as a freshman. I am looking forward to watching him just get better and better in our program."
Nathon Burwick, from Marietta, Ga., swims for Stingrays Swimming and was a Junior National qualifier for the 2012 and 2013 Winter Junior Nationals as well as the 2013 Summer Junior Nationals.
"Nathon is a very versatile swimmer who I believe has a lot of upside to his future swimming career. He comes to us with times that could score in the WAC in the 200- and 400-IM and he is close to that level in the 200-backstroke and the 1650-freestyle as well. He gives us a lot of options for depth in dual meets and I expect he will mature into one of our best swimmers by the time he is a senior."
On the women's side, Iryna Glavnyk, from Kiev, Ukraine, will join the team for the current spring semester. She swam for Delfin Swim Club. In 2012, Glavnyk was a member of the Ukrainian Olympic Team and competed as a member of their 800-yard freestyle relay in London. This past August, she competed for Ukraine in the FINA World Junior Championships, where she placed fourth in the 200-yard backstroke, ninth in the 100-yard backstroke, and 12th in the 200-yard freestyle.
"Iryna is an excellent freestyler and backstroker who will be a contender for the top places in the WAC in her events. She has extensive international level competition experience and will be a great addition to our program."
Marina Fonseca also joins the women's team, and currently swims for Thompson Valley High School and Loveland Swim Club in Loveland, Colo. At the Colorado 4A High School Championships, she placed seventh in the 50-yard freestyle and 12th in the 100-yard freestyle events.
"Marina will add some additional depth to our sprint free group and I believe that she still has a lot of room for improvement.
