Excitement Surrounds Inaugural University of the Ozarks Swim Season

Clarksville, Ark.-Excitement is filling the air for the inaugural season of the University of the Ozarks women’s and men’s swimming team.

Ozarks will travel to Shawnee, Oklahoma, to compete in the Oklahoma Baptist Invite September 22. David DeGeus was hired as the first-ever head coach in December of last year to start the program from scratch.

“This is an exciting time for the University,” said DeGeus, who was a seven-time All-America swimmer at Henderson State University. “Being the first collegiate season, there have been a few hurdles, but overall it has been a smooth transition. We have a class of 13 swimmers. Within the first week, I saw major leaps in improvement. We have a lot of swimmers with talent. I see a ton of potential and I believe they will step up.”

According to DeGeus, many of the swimmers are excited to be a part of the first-ever swimming program at U of O.

“Several swimmers chose U of O because they like the idea of starting a program,” said DeGeus. “It is important to them to be a part of history. They like being in that position.”

DeGeus has been pleased with his swimmers early on.

“Kobe McElmurry can swim any event for us,” said DeGeus. “He goes above and beyond what I ask. Jacob Sawyer has really exploded and has matched Kobe. I have others who have improved by leaps and bounds. On the women’s side, Kaitlyn Henrietta has really performed well within the first week of training. She is in great shape and can swim everything. Selena Haunty will be a great asset to the team, too. I have other girls who can come in later and swim in the top spots.”

DeGeus believes his swimmers are hungry to make their mark this year.

“They are hungry to be NCAA qualifiers,” he said. “That is the ultimate goal at the end of the year. It is tough to reach, but they are working hard toward that. They definitely want it. They swim from 5:00 am until 7:30 am five days a week and then we do an hour of weights in the afternoon. We swim from 9:00 am to noon on Saturdays.”

Ozarks trains and will host meets at Clarksville’s multi-million dollar aquatic facility.

“The facility is definitely one of the best in the state,” he said. “For its size, we have more deck space than a lot of pools in the state. We have plenty of room to house competitions. We have a separate warm down facility that is spacious and have a great air quality system. The facility is very bright due to the full glass enclosure. Everything is brand new with a state-of-the-art scoreboard.”

Ozarks will host two home meets during the 2016-2017 season, both in January.

“The spring semester will have started by the time we host our second meet January 28,” he said. “I hope it is packed. I know community members are thrilled to have collegiate swimming right here in Clarksville. I expect the team to be at a higher level when those home races come around.”

Ozarks will compete as a member of the NCAA Division III Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.

“I would like us to place in the conference championships,” he said. “We have a long way to go. We would like to continue to climb the ladder over the next few years. Within four years, we want to contend for the conference title.”

Courtesy of University of Ozarks Athletics.