Competitor Coach of the Month is a recurring SwimSwam feature shedding light on a U.S.-based coach who has risen above the competition. As with any item of recognition, Competitor Coach of the Month is a subjective exercise meant to highlight one coach whose work holds noteworthy context – perhaps a coach who was clearly in the limelight, or one whose work fell through the cracks a bit more among other stories. If your favorite coach wasn’t selected, feel free to respectfully recognize them in our comment section.
Now in his seventh season as the head coach at the University of Wisconsin, Yuri Suguiyama has gotten the Badgers off to a great start in 2024-25, with the team most recently competing at the Texas Hall of Fame Invite.
The women’s team in particular had numerous standout swims, highlighted by a new School Record in the 200 medley relay.
The quartet of Maggie Wanezek (23.99), Hazal Ozkan (27.07), Phoebe Bacon (22.65) and Hailey Tierney (21.33) combined for a time of 1:35.04, lowering the previous Wisconsin Record of 1:35.71 set back in 2011.
Wanezek, Ozkan, Bacon and Tierney also combined to notch an ‘A’ cut in the 400 medley relay, clocking 3:30.19 to fall just over a second shy of the 3:29.08 Program Record set in 2020. Bacon, Tierney, Abby Wanezek and Abby Carlson also hit an ‘A’ cut in the 400 free relay (3:13.54), while the same quartet was just shy in the 200 free relay (1:28.67).
Individually, M. Wanezek thrived during her first taper meet as a Badger, setting a new personal best time of 1:50.62 in the 200 back to fall just over a tenth shy of hitting an NCAA ‘A’ cut. The freshman was the runner-up in the final behind Bacon, who clocked 1:49.66 for an ‘A’ cut to rank 4th in the NCAA this season (Wanezek is 7th).
Wanezek also set a best time in the 200 IM (1:56.74), while in the 100 back, she touched in 51.08 after setting a best time of 50.96 at the beginning of November against Minnesota.
Bacon was significantly faster than she was last year at the Texas Invite in both backstroke events, as was Carlson in the 200 and 500 free, nearing her lifetime bests.
Ozkan, a junior, was also impressive with best times in the 200 breast (2:08.46) and 200 IM (1:57.58) while falling just shy in the 100 breast (59.62), and Callahan Dunn, Maddie Waggoner and Bridget McGann also had strong showings.
On the men’s side, junior Taiko Torepe-Ormsby led the way with a victory in the 50 free (19.28), while fellow third-year Dominik Mark Torok set a best time in the 200 breast and posted a time of 3:41.57 in the 400 IM that ranks in the top 10 in the NCAA this season.
Senior Chris Morris set a best time in the 100 free and had some of the fastest swims in school history in the 200 IM (#6) and 200 free (#8), and freshman Yoav Romanov impressed with top-10 finishes in the 200, 500 and 1650 free in just his fourth meet racing yards.
The team’s performance at the invite came three weeks after they swept Minnesota, with the women more than doubling up the Golden Gophers, 201-99, while the men walked away with a 158-142 victory.
Suguiyama is joined on the Wisconsin coaching staff by associate head coach Kristy King, assistant coaches Jennah Haney, Matt Martinez and Cauli Bedran, and assistant diving coach Yahya Radman.
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