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2008-09 Atlantic 10 Women's Swimming Coach of the Year Entering his seventeenth season at the helm of the Fordham Men and Women's Swimming & Diving programs is Head Coach and Director of Aquatics, Steve Potsklan. Investing a great deal of time and energy into the two squads, Potsklan has witnessed the teams move towards the top of the Atlantic 10, with the women's team taking second at the 2009 Atlantic 10 Championships and the men's team placing fourth, Fordham's best team finishes at the championship. In addition, Potsklan was named the 2009 Atlantic 10 Women's Swimming Coach of the Year, as well as Fordham Coach of the Year, receiving the Iron Major Award for the second time. Last winter was one to remember for the Rams, as the women's squad set 16 school records at the championship meet and the men added five more. And if that wasn't enough, two Atlantic 10 championship records were broken by the women's team. Leading the Fordham women was Courtney Collyer, who won two events at the championship, setting one conference mark in the process. Collyer took gold in the 200 butterfly in Atlantic 10-record setting time after winning the 400 IM earlier in the meet. For her exploits, Collyer was named the Atlantic 10 Female Rookie of the Meet, the first Fordham woman to earn the honor. Fordham also set the Atlantic 10-record in the women's 800 freestyle relay, as Caitlin Napoli, Tressa Dunn, Kelly Bunster and Collyer also took home gold, breaking the record set by Richmond in 2007 and destroying the school record by close to 14 seconds. On the men's side, Ryan Coombs also earned First Team All-Atlantic 10 in the 200 butterfly, marking the second time he has won an event at the Atlantic 10 Championship. In all, Fordham had 11 All-Conference swimmers, most in multiple events. The teams have also been getting it done in the classroom under Potsklan as both the men's and women's squad was named a CSCAA Academic All-America Team in 2008-09, the fourth straight year both teams have earned that honor. In 2007-08, the Ram swimmers set four records on the men's side and four more on the women's side as both teams placed fifth at the Atlantic 10 championship with diver Donnie Callara earning Second Team All-Atlantic 10 honors while setting school marks on both the one and three meter board. Besides the women's third place finish in 2006-07, the season was another record-setter for the Rams, with four individual and one relay record falling. Leading the record-setters was Caitlin Napoli, who won the 200 freestyle at the Atlantic 10 Championships in a school-record time of 1:51.71, and Ryan Coombs, who was named the Atlantic 10 Most Outstanding Rookie after earning First Team honors by winning the 500 free while also taking home Second Team accolades for a second place showing in the 200 freestyle. The 2007 team finish at the Atlantic 10 Championship surpassed the 2001-02 season in which the men's and women's teams each placed fourth at the championship meet, a feat the women's team repeated in 2002-03. For his accomplishments, Potsklan received the 2001 Iron Major Award as Fordham University's Coach of the Year. With 105 Fordham records and several other conference marks set by student-athletes during his tenure, Potsklan's teams have enjoyed much individual success, including 27 Atlantic 10 and three ECAC individual titles since 1995-96. Under Potsklan, Akira Kosugi was named the Atlantic 10's Most Outstanding Performer in 1996 while Paul Delo was named Diver of the Meet at the Atlantic 10 championships in 1996 and 1997. In 1999-2000, Maik Wiedenbach, one of the top sprinters in the Atlantic 10, received the Vincent T. Lombardi Award as Fordham's top male athlete as he set the school 50 and 100 freestyle records at the Atlantic 10 championships. In 2000-01, Potsklan saw freshman Keanan Faruq earn Atlantic 10 Most Outstanding Rookie Performer at the championship meet while in 2001-02 the Rams set four school records at the Atlantic 10 Championships. In 2002-03, the women's squad set nine school records with Katie Griener becoming the first Fordham woman to win an event at the Atlantic 10 Championships, winning the 500 freestyle in school record time. The women followed that season with eight school records in 2003-04 and two Second Team All-Atlantic 10 honors. In 2005-06, Fordham had three performers earn All-Atlantic 10 honors, including two, who won two events at the championship in John Stoneburner (200 and 400 IM) and Erika Newell (100 and 200 backstroke). In 2006-07, Napoli also earned Second Team All-Atlantic 10 honors in both the 100 back and the 200 butterfly while Ashley Ukleja took second place in the 1650 freestyle. Prior to his arrival at Rose Hill, Potsklan served as an assistant coach at Yale University for five seasons, helping that program regain Ivy League dominance. At Yale, the squad had a rapid rise from the bottom of the conference to Ivy League Champions. Potsklan has also served on the staffs at West Virginia and Penn State, coaching several NCAA and Senior Nationals finalists. He has also coached at the Omni Swim Club, Mountaineer Swim Club, and the Texas Longhorn and Alabama Swim Camps. He is currently the director of the SwimAmerica program which offers swim lessons for children and adults in the Fordham area. A 1985 graduate of Penn State, Potsklan went from a non-scholarship walk-on to the team's MVP, setting six school records and winning an Atlantic 10 title in the 100 freestyle in 1985. He also holds a Master's degree from West Virginia. Potsklan and his wife, artist Jacqueline Matute, have two children: Chloe Simone (14) and Emma Noel (11). |
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