Galesburg, Ill. - Jonathan Powers (right) has been named Head Coach of the Knox College Prairie Fire Swimming and Diving team. Powers is an assistant professor of economics at Knox who swam for four years at Amherst College, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1987. At Amherst he was captain of the swim team his senior year - the same year that his team placed 25th at the NCAA Div III National Swimming and Diving Championships. Powers also competed in water polo at Amherst, serving as captain his senior year, and in recent years has competed in several triathlons.

A member of the Knox faculty since 2000, Powers earned his doctorate in economics at Northwestern University in 2002. He teaches microeconomics, industrial organization, and game theory and has presented research papers at the American Economic Association, Midwest Economic Association and Western Economic Association annual meetings.

"Jonathan Powers is a powerful role model as a scholar-athlete, and I am pleased that he will now bring his skill and experience to Knox's swimming and diving program," said Chad Eisele, director of athletics at Knox.

In addition to teaching economics at Knox Powers has coached the club water polo team. It seems right then that he would take over the swimming program. When asked about his new role, Powers said excitedly "I am thrilled to have this opportunity for several reasons. Graduating seniors Sarah West and Tony Meyer have provided great leadership. We have a strong, fast cohort of returning swimmers that set several team records this year. And as a professor, I am delighted to be coaching a group of student-athletes that has also had a great record of academic success -- this season nine of the ten eligible members were named to the Midwest Conference All-Academic team-- and that's something to be very proud of."

Grinnell completed its eighth consecutive sweep of the Midwest Conference Swimming and Diving Championships after hosting and winning the 2009 version. The three-day event saw the women reach an unprecedented 11 straight victories while the men raised their tally to eight. The Pioneer men now own an MWC-best 32 overall titles, while the women also sit atop the conference with 20 championship trophies.

The Pioneers also swept the diving awards as Nick Smith (far left) was named the 2009 Men's Diver of the Year and his counterpart, Kelly Bruce (middle left), was named the 2009 Women's Diver of the Year. Lawrence, who finished second in the women's division and third in the men's, took home both of the swimming awards. Hayley Vatch (middle right) was named the 2009 Women's Swimmer of the Year after breaking one overall conference record and three MWC Championships records, while Peter Brengel (far right) set one MWC Championships record en route to winning the 2009 Men's Swimmer of the Year award.

Rounding out the awards are Grinnell's Erin Hurley (left) and Carroll's Joanne Brandtjen (right), who were named the 2009 Men's and Women's Coach of the Year, respectively.

Three more records fell on Sunday as Vatch's time in the 1,650-yard freestyle was a MWC Championship-best (17:45.10). Grinnell's Cyrus Mistry accomplished the same feat in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:07.05 while fellow Pioneer Valerie Stimac put her mark on the 100-yard freestyle. Her time of 52.34 is an MWC all-time record.

There were a number of repeat winners on the final day of the 2009 Championships. A pair of freshmen in Monmouth's Andrew Wright and Carroll's Danielle Grzywa each took home a second gold medal in their first Championships as they won the 1,650-yard freestyle and the 200-yard backstroke, respectively. Brengel added to his total by touching the wall first in both the 200-yard backstroke and 100-yard freestyle. The talented freshman finished with three golds overall.

The three first-time winners for the final day went to Krysta Sparks (200 breast) of Monmouth and another pair of Grinnell Pioneers, Nate Wittnam (200 fly) and Morgan Horton (200 fly).

All event champions are listed below.

The Grinnell women have expanded their lead in a large way after the second day of the Midwest Conference Swimming and Diving Championships. The women have tallied 901 total points, more than double second-place Lawrence who sits with 421.

The Pioneers sit atop the men's standings as well with 876.5 total points leading Monmouth by 235.5. Lawrence is a distant third with 389 points, 252 behind the Fighting Scots.

Day 2 saw three MWC records fall. Lawrence's Hayley Vatch entered the record books for the second consecutive day as the senior swam an MWC-best 1:57.03 in the 200-yard freestyle. Grinnell's Morgan Bober accomplished the same feat in the 100-yard breaststroke with her preliminary time of 1:06.39. Finally, Lawrence's Peter Brengel set the MWC Championships record in the 100-yard backstroke (52.13).

Along with Vatch, there were four other repeat winners. Grinnell's Kelly Bruce (3M Dive), Tom Lankiewicz (400 IM), and Nick Smith (1M Dive), and Carroll's Jordan Barclay (400 IM) stood atop the winner's stand for the second consecutive day.

New winners included: Lake Forest's Mike Mackin (100 fly), Monmouth's Josh Dunn (200 free), Carroll's Danielle Grzywa (100 back), and Grinnell's Amy Hadow (100 fly) and Cyrus Mistry (100 breast).

Grinnell swept the four team events as the Pioneers took home the crown in the men's and women's 200-yard medley relay and 800-yard freestyle relay.

All event champions are listed below.

Host Grinnell has jumped out to an early lead on both the men's and women's sides after Day 1 of the 2009 Midwest Conference Swimming and Diving Championships. The Pioneer men and women are gunning for their eighth and eleventh consecutive league titles, respectively.

The underclassmen were well-represented as five of the eight individual champions were freshmen. Seniors Hayley Vatch of Lawrence and Valerie Stimac of Grinnell may have been the elders in the pool, but they sure didn't swim like it. Stimac won the 50-yard freestyle while Vatch's winning time in the 500-yard freestyle was an MWC Championship record (5:08.28). Grinnell's Nick Smith was the other upperclassmen to win an event as the junior took home the men's 3-meter diving crown.

Of the talented freshmen, Monmouth's Andrew Wright and Carroll's Jordan Barclay were the only non-Grinnell swimmers to take the winner's stand. Both posted career bests in the 200-yard individual medley en route to the men's and women's championships, respectively. Grinnell's Tom Lankiewicz (200 IM), Marco Fulgoni (50 free), and Kelly Bruce (1M Dive) round out the winning freshmen.

Grinnell swept all of the four team events as the Pioneers took both the men's and women's 400-yard individual medleys and 200-yard freestyle relays.

All event champions are listed below:

The Grinnell Pioneers will not have to worry about traveling to defend its conference title streak this weekend as they will play host to the 2009 Midwest Conference Swimming and Diving Championships. The Pioneers hope to make this the eighth consecutive year in which both the men’s and women’s teams take home the crown. The events begin Friday, February 13th and will run through Sunday, February 15th. For the second year in a row, all 10 conference institutions will be represented throughout the weekend.

Numerous underclassmen have been making a splash this season, but several seniors return to compete for the last time in their collegiate careers, including previous Performers of the Week in Grinnell's Valerie Stimac (right) and Lawrence's Hayley Vatch (left).

Monmouth assistant swimming & diving coach Al McGuire (right), who works with the Fighting Scots divers, will be inducted into the Loras College Hall of Fame during halftime ceremonies at the Duhawks’ football season opener on Sept. 6. Ironically, the Duhawks’ gridiron opponent will be the Fighting Scots.

As a collegiate diver at Loras, McGuire qualified seven times for the NAIA national swim meet and holds every Loras men’s diving record. Serving as team captain for three years, he also won the Iowa Small College State Meet in both the 1- and 3-meter springboards.

Lake Forest, Ill. - Lake Forest College Athletic Director Jackie Slaats announced September 4 that Vadim Tashlitsky (right) will be the College's next head coach for men's and women's swimming & diving.

Tashlitsky, a three-year letter winner and all-conference swimmer on the Foresters' 1997, 1998, and 1999 Midwest Conference championship teams, has been coaching at various levels over the past six years. He will come to Lake Forest from Irvine, California, where he is the assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator at Soka University of America, as well as the senior coach at Irvine Novaquatics, a nationally recognized U.S. Gold Medal Swim Club.

Click here for complete release

Andrew Fleek (right) has been named the new head men's and women's swimming & diving coach at Lawrence University, Director of Athletics Robert Beeman announced on April 3. Fleek comes to Lawrence from the College of Wooster, where he has served as an assistant coach for the last two seasons.

A native of Lincoln, Neb., Fleek was a standout swimmer at the University of South Dakota. A four-year letterwinner, he served as team captain and was a 12-time North Central Conference finalist. An all-conference selection in 2001, he was a five-time NCAA "B" qualifier. Fleek was nominated for the school's Male Student Athlete of the Year Award in 2003 and won his team's Most Improved Award in 2000.

Fleek, who earned a bachelor's degree in secondary education and a master's degree in athletic administration from South Dakota, served as a graduate assistant at his alma mater in 2004 and 2005. He also has experience coaching at the high school and club levels. This past season, Fleek helped guide the Wooster women to a third-place finish and the men to fifth in the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships.

Click here for complete release