One of the new additions to the swimming and diving team is Amber Cortazzo from Wilson High School in Sinking Spring, Pa.  Cortazzo swam for the Lancaster Aquatics Club under Casey Coble and plans to be a Marine Biology Major.  Her best times are a 24.33 in the 50m freestyle, a 53.11 in the 100m freestyle, a 1:54.91 in the 200m freestyle and a 5:00.68 in the 500m freestyle along with others.

“She’s awesome. I think our whole team fell in love with her,” head coach Nathan Kellogg said.  “She’s a tremendous competitor and works really hard.  I spoke with her coach and he was saying how she loves to anchor relays and kind of try and run people down and we love kids like that, that are really intense competitors.”

Another new addition is Madison Lichtefeld from Sacred Heart Academy in Louisville, Ky.  Lichtefeld swam for the Lakeside Seahawks club team under Mike DeBoor.

“Madison is great. She’s a really nice, sweet young lady and comes from a great club program,” Kellogg said.  “Her times are going to fit in really well; they’re exactly what we were looking for.  We feel like she has a great potential.  She swims breaststroke, IM, middle distance freestyle. She’s pretty versatile.”

Ali Snover is coming from the Y-Spartaquatics coached by Peter Wright in Greer, S.C.  Snover attended Southside Christian School and is currently undecided on a major.

“Ali comes from a really great club program.  Ali is a little more of a sprinter in freestyle and butterfly and has a tremendous background,” Kellogg said.  “I think with the events she swims, she’ll add a lot in terms of relays as well as individual events.  I think she’s quietly very competitive and I think she loves to race.”

Kaylyn Thomas is from North Forsyth High School in Cumming, Ga.  Thomas comes from swimming with the Dynamo Swim Club in Atlanta under the coaching of Rich Murphy and Franz Resseguie.  Thomas is intending to be a nutrition major.

“Kaylyn is kind of a late bloomer and has really only been swimming year-round for about six years. I think she could be a diamond in the rough and with someone with that limited of a training background. I feel like she has a lot of potential,” Kellogg said.

As of now, no long distance swimmer has been recruited, but Kellogg tends to keep recruiting a long distance swimmer for the next season.

There is only one new addition to the diving team and that is Erin Hembree from Duluth, Ga.  Hembree is a part of the Atlanta Diving Association and has been coached by Grant Segal and Webb Worthington.

“I can’t speak to her diving, but Erin is a ball of energy,” Kellogg said.  “Super outgoing, super high energy and I think she has fallen in love with our diving program and I think our team really fell in love with her, too.”

Kellogg believes this class could be the best class the program has ever had and he hopes that becomes the expectation for recruiting.