You can bet that Jason Hite would not have left his position on the staff at Drury unless it was to go somewhere he felt could be built to top-level success in Division II. In his first season of recruiting at the University of Indianapolis, the word is getting out that he is landing some big fish. Hite got a commitment recently from versatile Croatian standout Ante Lucev who will be bringing his international success to the yard pool for the first time.
Lucev swims for club Jadran in Split for both long time coach Mate Ruzic and former European Champion Ante Maskovic. He finished sixth in the 200 IM at the 2013 Youth Olympic Festival, and later was a semi-finalist in the IM and the 100 fly at European Juniors in 2014. Lucev also reached the semi-final for the 100 fly in Baku at the European Games and was in the final heat of the 400 free relay, as well as contributing to a 9th place relay in Singapore at the World Junior Championships.
Ante is a Croatian National Record Holder in the 100 IM for 15-16 age group, and was only .12 away from breaking the 15-16 50 free record set by Cal’s Duje Draganja when he clocked 22.91 in the short course meter pool.
When converting Lucev’s times to yards, it is apparent he will make an immediate impact for the Greyhounds, as several events would have landed deep in the A-final at the GLVC Championships and his 100 fly would have scored at Division II Nationals.
Lucev told SwimSwam, “I chose UINDY because I want to study and swim on high level and with my new coach Jason Hite lead them as much as possible at the top of NCAA Division II. I have a few friends and teammates which are also in USA but not at UINDY, but I’m very excited that I will swim against them.”
Lucev’s top times (LCM/SCM):
50 free 23.71 / 22.91
100 free 52.33 / 50.72
100 back 59.34 / 55.99
100 breast 1:07.05 / 1:02.72
100 fly 55.68 / 54.75
200 IM 2:05.35 / 2:03.29