Men's swimming inks four for 2009-10
Joesph Wasko's Local Paper Announcement
Grayson Repp and Cassie Morrice Announcement
The Arizona State men's swimming and diving team announces four new signees to their 2009-10 class. Jesper Akesson, Sean Niccolucci, Grayson Repp and Joseph Wasko have all signed national letters of intent to study and compete at Arizona State University, announces head swimming coach Michael Chasson.
Canadian Grayson Repp will join the Sun Devils' men's team this fall after having competed for Island Swimming. A club teammate of recently signed women's recruit Cassie Morrice, Repp will come in as a middle-distance free-stylist and make an immediate impact in the Sun Devil lineup.
"Grayson's short course times are pretty close to making the NCAA cuts," said assistant coach and men's recruiter Simon Percy. "This is impressive, there are very few guys coming out of high school with NCAA type times."
Another middle distance swimmer that will join the men's team in the fall is Sean Niccolucci from Missoula, Montana. A raw yet talented swimmer, Niccolucci will also look to add depth to the program.
"Sean swims for David Berkoff, who was an icon in the backstroke in the 80s," said Percy. "He has very little experience, but he has dropped a lot of time this year. He rounds out that middle distance group."
The Sun Devils will also gain a transfer in the fall in Jesper Akesson. Akesson will transfer from Wayne State where he was a six-time Division II All-American. Originally from Sweden, Akesson will serve as a sprint freestyler and will also compete in the sprint breaststroke events.
"Jesper has dropped a lot of time this year," said Percy. "He's a 44 high freestyler, 44 low relay guy. He will also give us some versatility in the sprint breaststroke. He will help in pretty much all our relays."
The final spring signee for the men hails from Northern California. Joseph Wasko will provide depth for the Sun Devils in the backstroke and freestyle events. An excellent student, Wasko will be enrolled in ASU's top-ranked Barrett Honors College on an academic scholarship. He is a three-time CIF Northern Section Outstanding Male Swimmer of the Year.
"Joey has the potential to be an NCAA qualifier in a couple of years," said Percy. "He's got good tools and is a good depth guy for the program."
Akesson, Niccolucci, Repp and Wasko will join Caleb Veazey, who signed in the fall. Veazey, who will swim the distance events for the Sun Devils, would have been an Olympic Trials qualifier but the bullhead was off by three centimeters and therefore made his time void.
"Caleb was basically the cornerstone of our men's recruiting class; we pretty much built around him," said Percy. "He has had a really good senior year and he's gotten even faster. "