Greetings to prospective Trinity University swimmers and divers!

    Upon completion of the award-winning Bell Athletic Center in the fall semester of 1992, Trinity University introduced NCAA varsity swimming and diving for the first time in school history. Former Alamo Area Aquatics coach John Ryan returned from Connecticut to San Antonio after a 10-year hiatus to found the new program and to guide Trinity through its inaugural season. The first year was relatively successful, and both the men's and women's teams have improved season by season since the spring of 1993.

A team meeting at the outdoor pool

   A member of NCAA Division III, Trinity has a true commitment to both academic and athletic excellence. The University attracts approximately 650 very bright and talented new students each year, and strives to provide its students/athletes with both a quality undergraduate education and a highly competitive athletic experience. Trinity's overall athletic program is one of the very best among the NCAA's small colleges and universities.  A member of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, Trinity has won numerous all-sports awards and a grand total of 76 SCAC Championships since the conference's inception in 1991.

February of 1997 proved to be a benchmark date in the history of the T.U. program.  That year, Trinity's men and women swimmers and divers each won their respective team championship at the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Invitational for the first time ever. FY Joseph Moore and JR Sarah Scott both won three gold medals and set a total of 6 meet records at the 1997 SCAC finale. Their accomplishments earned them each the SCAC High Point Award for the meet, setting a standard of excellence for future Trinity swimmers and divers. Moore and Scott went on to earn All-American honors at the 1997 NCAA Championships.

Bald-headed men get all the babes!

   The 1997-98 season was highlighted by more of the same.  The women's team captured its second consecutive SCAC Invitational crown and the men were runner-up in their title chase. Moore and Scott again won three individual events each, winning SCAC High Point Awards for their performances. They also earned All-American honors at the NCAA Championships, serving as an inspiration to all associated with Trinity's swimming and diving program.
    The Tigers from Texas began the 1998-99 season with high hopes, and the season turned out to be a big success. The men and the women each enjoyed 10 wins over their in-season opponents, finishing the year with unblemished records. Swimming and diving became an official Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship sport for the first time as DePauw University, Southwestern University, and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology all jumped into the SCAC competitive pool with Trinity, Sewanee, and Hendrix.

   In February of 1999, Trinity's men made history by capturing the first-ever SCAC Swimming and Diving Championship, hosted by the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. The T.U. Tigers snatched 4 of 5 men's relay events during the meet's three evening final sessions to surprise and outscore pre-meet favorites DePauw and Sewanee. Junior Joseph Moore and FY Dylan Stentiford each won two individual races to pace the Tigers on their way to victory. On the women's side, FY Christy Jayne and sophomore Shannon Clower both notched double wins while leading the Trinity women to a second place finish behind conference rival Sewanee. Trinity's men and women scored more points than the combined total tallied by any other school in the conference, proving that the overall balance of power in the SCAC was located in San Antonio, Texas.
    The 1999-2000 season opened in late October with dual meet wins over a first-ever team program at McMurry University in Abilene. The trip was fun and set the stage for another successful year. The women again marched through the winter with a 10-0 record against all opponents, while the men settled for an 8-2 season. The Y2K SCAC Swimming and Diving Championship was hosted by DePauw University (Greencastle, Indiana) and the February trip north proved memorable.

   Reversing the 1999 final results, Trinity's women captured the 2000 SCAC team title with an exciting upset win over the defending champions from Sewanee. Trinity had seven senior women step up and have their best-ever college championship meet. Led by lifetime personal record winning efforts from Lynn Lyons and Suski Sokol, the competitiveness displayed by the seniors inspired the team to a 874.5 to 842 victory. FY Catlin McEathron triumphed on both the 1 and 3 meter boards to win valuable team points on the way to winning the SCAC Diver-of-the-Year award.  The T.U. men were missing the services of All-American Joseph Moore (out with an injury) and lacked the team depth that helped them garner its 1999 win over DePauw. When all was said and done, the Y2K results proved the Tigers from Indiana to be deeper and stronger than their Texas counterparts. While Trinity swam well and Dylan Stentiford captured 2 wins, T.U. had to settle for the consolation of beating out longtime rival University of the South for team runner-up honors.

    Could Trinity rebound in 2000-2001?  That was the challenge the Tigers had to answer.  After a slow start in the fall semester, the winter swimming and diving season was highlighted by a sunny (yet chilly) week of training at the International Swimming Hall-of-Fame in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The trip helped pave the way to a successful conference finale.  Trinity served as the host for the 2001 SCAC Championships held in San Antonio on the weekend of February 15-16-17. The Tiger women rebounded from a first-event relay DQ to earn a 56 point win over Sewanee, setting 7 school records and 3 conference records in the process.

Trinity's men, in the meantime, enjoyed an absolutely awesome weekend and achieved what most observers thought to be an  impossible feat. After the first night and 2 sessions of diving, the T.U. Tigers were 129.5 points behind the heavily-favored DePauw Tigers in the team scoring column. A great finals session on Friday, highlighted by SCAC record-setting wins in 4 of the 6 evening events, closed the gap to 35.5 points. An enthusiastic crowd of athletes and spectators then witnessed another great session of swimming on Saturday night. By the last event of the meet, Trinity had tallied 886.5 points to Depauw's 886 points. The meet came down to a case of "winner take all" and the T.U. 400 freestyle relay team of Zach Coburn, Andrew Gnann, Will Von Rosenberg and Dylan Stentiford did just that. Trinity led from the start and touched up with a 3:06.21 to DePauw's 3:06.93, taking their second team title in three years. There was absolute pandemonium in the stands and on the pool deck when the scoreboard flashed the outcome of hte final race, and hence, the meet.  Trinity's relay team gave the Tigers the team title over DePauw by a final score of 994.5 to 934.  All in all, the men set nine school records and eight new conference records over the course of the weekend. Zach Coburn narrowly edged teammates Dylan Stentiford and Ryan Van Der Kar for SCAC Swimmer-of-the-Year honors.

    Four Trinity women and five Tiger men swimmers attended the 2001 NCAA Championships, held in March in Buffalo, NY.   Every one of the 11 scored at the national meet, with all earning either All-American or honorable mention All-American rankings.  Despite a bit of a let-down from the emotional high associated with the teams' SCAC wins, the season finale at the NCAA's proved positive.

    2001 was for sure going to be a hard act to follow, yet both the T.U. men and the T.U. women rose to the occasion at the 2002 Southern Collegiates.  The University of the South was once again the meet host, and Trinity traveled "up the mountain" to prove yet again their SCAC pre-eminence.  The men won 10 out of 18 individual and relay swimming events on their way to a 158.5-point team win over runner-up DePauw.  Seniors Dylan Stentiford, Will Von Rosenberg, Andrew Gnann, Ryan Stevens, and Adam Bellinger provided the kind of senior leadership it takes to help guarantee a team's success.  Stentiford won both the 500 and the 200 freestyle for the fourth consecutive year, and added the 100 freestyle title to his collection. 

He and sophomore Ryan Van Der Kar (winner of the 200 butterfly and the 200 and 400 IM races) shared SCAC Swimmer of the Year honors.  On the women's side, Christy Jayne and first-year Jessica Isenberg came up with conference record-setting wins for the Tigers and led T.U. to a surprisingly one-sided win over Sewanee and DePauw.  Trinity's depth was the difference, as every woman on the team scored points in at least one championship final heat.  The women scored 951 points overall, the highest total ever in the SCAC's four-year history.

    The 2002 NCAA Championships was held at Miami University (Ohio), with Trinity again well-represented.  Ryan

Van Der Kar, Dylan Stentiford, and Zach Coburn each set a new T.U. record, and the latter two earned All-American honors in the process.  In addition, Jessica Isenberg qualified for the NCAA Women's Championships by virtue of her school and conference record in the SCAC 50 freestyle, marking her first trip to the national meet.

    The 2002-2003 season started slowly and the T.U. Tigers seemed to have a little difficulty picking up momentum following their highly successful 2001-2002 season.  The loss of a strong graduating class in the spring of 2002, several illnesses and injuries, and a small incoming men's group opened the door for other schools to challenge Trinity's supremacy at the SCAC Championships.  T.U. won some of it's early meets, but it wasn't until the winter recess training trip to Fort Lauderdale that the coaching staff felt positive about the consistency and quality of the team's training and its focus on the SCAC's and the NCAAs.  Trinity experienced some good performances at their annual later-December Tiger Invitational, but journeyed to Greenville, Mississippi for the 2003 SCAC's fully aware that DePauw's men and women were stronger and much deeper than the preceding year. 

    Sure enough, DePauw was ready and they put more points on the scoreboard then T.U. was able to muster, despite some terrific performances on the part of the defending champions.  Ryan Van Der Kar led the way for Trinity's men, winning the SCAC Swimmer of the Year Award by virtue of wins in the 500 freestyle, the 400 Individual Medley and the 200 Butterfly (establishing new SCAC meet records in the latter two events). DePauw's men, however, used their swimming depth and their team's ability to go 1-2-3-4 in both the 1 and 3 meter diving events to run up a total of 945.5 points.  Trinity's lack of depth and their inability to contest DePauw on the diving boards contributed to the Tigers loss of the SCAC crown, after back to back wins in 2001 and 2002. T.U.  scored 743.5 points, outstanding Sewanee's 638 points. On the women's side, FY Catherine Jelf captured gold in the 400 Individual Medley, marking the 5th consecutive year a Trinity woman has won that event.  Sophomore Jessica Isenberg swam to a tie win in the 100 freestyle and Junior Stephanie Walla upset DePauw All-American Amy Allen in the 200 backstroke, breaking the meet record by 1.55 seconds.  In the end DePauw's women accrued 944.5 points to Trinity's 862.5 points, while Sewanne rounded out the top three teams with a 702 point total.  It marked DePauw's first-ever SCAC team victory in women's swimming and diving.

    Ryan Van Der Kar and Zach Coburn attended the 2003 NCAA Championships in Atlanta, and both earned All-American honors at the season finale.  Van Der Kar set a new conference open record on the 200 butterfly with his 1:52.71, while Coburn scored for the second straight year in the 200 backstroke.  All in all, the trip to the NCAA's was fun and the Tigers returned to San Antonio satisfied with their performances.

    Swimming and diving clearly has a very bright future at Trinity. With both indoor short course and outdoor long course facilities, Trinity has outstanding resources to help promote its program. The University is eager to attract swimmers and divers who seek to experience the kinds of academic, athletic, and social opportunities that are offered at a university located in a city offering the charm and hospitality for which San Antonio is known. Any athlete possessing the ability to contribute to Trinity's winning tradition is encouraged to contact Coach Ryan by returning the Questionnaire posted on this web site.