In what could be a huge point-swing at next year’s NCAA Championships, where the Stanford Cardinal are expected to be among two-or-three favorites for the national title, the NCAA has granted David Mosko an extra year of eligibility after he sat out the spring semester with a shoulder injury.
Mosko, if healthy in 2012, should be good for at least 40 points at the NCAA Championships. He’s also likely to be a part of Stanford’s 800 free relay. In addition to his 10 career All-American awards, he also is the 2010 Pac-10 (which officially became “Pac-12” on July 1) Champion in the 500 free. He also competes in the 1650 free and the 200 fly, both of which are races where he should finish in the top 8 in the country.
The first big test of his healing shoulder should be at this summer’s World University Games, where he will compete in the 400 LC meter freestyle. He still hasn’t swum a race in 2011, so it will be interesting for him to go into Shenzen “cold-turkey,” so to speak.
There’s still no word on whether or not Austin Staab has been granted an extra year, but we are looking into it.
As an update, Staab hasn’t been ruled out yet, but Stanford won’t find out his status until the fall.
I agree. This site has really stepped up in terms of informative reporting, good insight into the swimming world and the timeliness of your stories. Definitely my first stop for swimming news now.
On another note will Bill Jewell’s leaving FAST have any effect on that site continuing as a Center of Excellence?
You guys are TOO kind. You’re making me blush.
I’m still waiting to hear more developments on the Bill Jewell case besides Splash of Truth – after all, FAST was a swim team before the COE and will be after the USOC pulls funding, so this may have been an internal, whole-team sort of decision.
Doubt the COE is going anywhere before 2012. After that, if they continue the program, USA Swimming could insert whatever puppet they wanted to theoretically…easier to move a coach there than to move the athletes somewhere else sort of thing.
I have to agree with CalBearFan. Your journalism is excellent, your reporting timely, your predictions and forecasts for big meets (who will medal, who will win team battles, etc.) well-thought-out. Congrats on being the best source for swim news by far.
Now, to my question: With Staab and Mosko in the mix, other returning scorers, and the addition of freshman Nolan, how realistic is it to pick Stanford to win NCAAs next year?
Again, big thanks. Feeling the love from both sides of the Bay!
Now, to your question: I think if Staab is back, I think it’s a dead-heat between Texas and Stanford. Without him, Texas is going to be VERY tough to beat. The Longhorns return 331.5 individual points…which is about 100 more than Stanford, and only lose 4 relay spots. Stanford is losing a LOT of their sprinting, even if they keep their big names.
Still haven’t heard for sure, but the feeling I’m getting is that things aren’t looking as good for Staab as they did for Mosko.
Texas is the “safe” pick. Stanford will be the “hot” pick because of the freshmen class that they are bringing in.… Read more »
As a CalBearFan, I am not very excited about this development, however I am happy for the swimmer. But the reason for my post is just to say that this website is KILLING the other swim sites in terms of getting stories up first. The other main site I look at is swimmingworld.com and basically they are just reposting all of your stories about 6 or 7 hours after you. Kudos to theswimmerscircle.com! Keep up the good work…even if it means reporting that Stanford has Mosko for one more year 🙂
Thanks CalBearFan! It’s kind words and our loyal readers (amongst which you are one of the most) that keep us hustling and working hard! Would you believe that we all have full-time jobs (or two) on top of this??
Wow, this is big. Stanford didn’t have enough horses with the loss of Mosko and Staab, but if somehow they are both allowed to return, with the addition of Nolan gives them a heckuva a lot more firepower in the 100BAck, 200IM, 200 Fly/Back, and the relays, especially medley relays. I thought event before with adding the freshmen class they were at best 3rd, but if these guys get a chance to return, that’s a big bonus.
Why would Staab be granted an extra year?
As I’m sure you know, Staab missed the 2nd-half of his third NCAA season, and the first half of his fourth (for unannounced personal reasons). See the post we put up back in late March. At the same time as they were looking into a 5th year for Mosko, sources at Stanford told us that they were seeking a 5th-year for Staab. We’ll definitely post ASAP if we here about him one way or the other.
http://theswimmerscircle.com/blog/featured/looking-ahead-to-2011-2012-ncaa-mens-championship/