The Grand Canyon University men’s and women’s swimming and diving program has announced the addition of five women and six men for the upcoming 2015-16 season. Head swimming coach Steve Schaffer has added six swimmers, while head diving coach Tracey Eldridge has brought on five divers for the upcoming season.
Women’s Swimming and Diving Additions
Menna El-Midany: Fr., Diver, Alexandria, Egypt (College De La Mere De Dieu)
Elizabeth Fogel: Jr., Diver, Gig Harbor, Wash. (Tacoma Community College)
Holly Kolkebeck: Jr., Fly/Sprint/Free, Anthem, Ariz. (Glendale Community College)
Samiha Mohsen: Fr., Back/Free, Cairo, Egypt (Cairo British High School)
Megan Phelps: Fr., Diver, Tempe, Ariz. (McClintock High School)Men’s Swimming and Diving Additions
Todd Alden: Fr., Diver, Vacaville, Calif. (Will C. Wood High School)
Daniil Antipov: Fr., Fly/Free, Krasnoyarsk, Russia (High School #150)
Owen Cameron: Fr., Free/Fly, Glendale, Ariz. (Home School)
Sherif Mandour: Fr., Free/Fly, Cairo, Egypt (October Language School)
Cody Rankin: Fr., Diver, Phoenix, Ariz. (Shadow Mountain High School)
Mark Nikolaev: Fr., Free/Back, Seltso, Russia (Seltovskaya High School)
Menna El-Midany hails from Alexandria, Egypt, where she was ranked as the second-best diver in the country. Coach Eldridge on Menna: “Menna is ranked second in her country and is an outstanding diver. As a freshman she will be among the top divers in the WAC. She has a very strong list of dives on 3-Meter and should do very well over the next four years.”
Elizabeth Fogel joins GCU via Gig Harbor, Wash., and Tacoma Community College. While in high school, Fogel accumulated an impressive 25 undefeated high school dual meets. Coach Eldridge on Elizabeth: “Libby is a transfer and although Tacoma Community College does not have a diving team, she has been training with Pacific Northwest Diving for the last two years. I am excited to help her transition into Division I.”
Holly Kolkebeck comes to GCU from Glendale Community College and Boulder Creek High School in Anthem, Ariz. Prior to joining the Lopes, she was a member of the Arizona Swimming Gauchos, a local club team in the Valley. Coach Schaffer on Holly: “Holly is a local transfer student who will add depth for us in the sprint fly and free events. She is very familiar with our training system and we see her making great improvements over the next two years.”
Samiha Mohsen is a product of Cairo British High School in Cairo, Egypt and will add depth for GCU in the both the back and free events. Coach Schaffer on Samiha: “We are very excited to have Samiha as part of our team. We think she has a lot of room to improve and she already has times that will score well for us in the backstroke and sprint free events at the WAC Championships.”
Megan Phelps, a local product out of Tempe’s McClintock High School, finished seventh in the 1-Meter dive at the Arizona State Swimming and Diving Championships, accumulating a score of 348.45 points. Coach Eldridge on Megan: “Megan is currently training with Sun Devil divers. She is new to 3-Meter diving and has already made enough progress to join GCU’s diving team. If she continues to progress at this rate, then she will have a lot of potential to score a lot of points for the team.”
Todd Alden, an incoming freshman from Will C. Wood High School in Vacaville, Calif., took home a 12th place finish in the platform dive (374.20) at the 2014 USA Diving National Championships. At the same meet, Alden finished 16th in the 3-Meter dive (431.00). Coach Eldridge on Todd: “Todd is a very talented and natural diver. He has only been diving for four years and has already risen to the national level. He will be a huge asset for GCU diving and I am looking forward to his college career.”
Daniil Antipov, who will compete in the fly and free events for GCU, joins the program from Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Coach Schaffer on Daniil: “Daniil is one of the top 17-18 year old swimmers in the Russian Federation in his events and has times that are faster than NCAA D-I B qualifying times in all of his best events. He will come in as our fastest swimmer in the mid-distance free style and fly events and we fully expect that Daniil will be part of our NCAA Championship qualifiers when we are eligible to compete in 2018.”
Owen Cameron is from Glendale, Ariz., and previously competed for the Arizona Swimming Gauchos before joining the GCU swimming and diving family. Coach Schaffer on Owen: “Owen is a local walk-on addition who we think has great potential for improvement. He is very new to the sport and displays a great ability to learn and improve at a very rapid rate. We are very excited to see how far he will go in the coming years.”
Sherif Mandour is one of two additions from Cairo, Egypt and will provide depth in the free and fly events for GCU. Coach Schaffer on Sherif: “Sherif is a solid walk-on addition for us who will add depth to our sprint free and fly events and has the potential to be a multi-event scorer in the WAC Championships for us next year. ”
Cody Rankin prepped at nearby Shadow Mountain High School, where he recently took second in both the 1-meter dive (417.85) and 3-meter dive (489.20) at the 2015 USA Diving Junior Region 11 Championships. Coach Eldridge on Rankin: “Cody has been known in Arizona as a great Junior Olympic diver. He also competes as a synchronized diver at the national level. As an incoming freshman, Cody will be able to immediately compete as a top-level diver in the WAC conference.”
Mark Nikolaev, a native of Seltso, Russia, will compete in the free and back events for GCU during the 2015-16 season. Coach Schaffer on Mark: “Like Daniil Antipov, Mark is also one of the top 17-18 year olds in his events in the Russian Federation. Mark is a sprint backstroke and freestyle specialist who comes in with WAC top- eight scoring times and we expect that he will make his NCAA D-I B cuts this coming season and be well on track to be part of our first NCAA Championship team in 2018.
Swimming news courtesy of Grand Canyon University Swimming.