Northridge Swim Coach Likes Team’s Chances for Another NCAA Title

The Cal State Northridge women’s team lost one of its best swimmers and a diver because of NCAA Division eligibility restrictions and another swimmer is academically ineligible, but Coach Pete Accardy still likes his team’s chances.

In fact, he says that the team is good enough to successfully defend its Division II national championship.

Seven women and 4 men on the CSUN teams already have qualified for the Division II nationals in March at State University of New York in Buffalo.

Jeanna Giessinger, Lisa Dial, Michelle Sulak, Toady Kimble, Jude Kylander, Carol Eisele and Stacy Mettam are the women who have met NCAA qualifying standards. Two others--Tina Dotson and Erica Freeman--missed qualifying by a tenth of a second and are expected to meet the standard before the nationals.

Tina Schnare, a Division II record-holder in the breaststroke, needs to make up a few class units before she regains her eligibility. However, that should happen long before the nationals, Accardy said. “She’s good enough to meet the (qualifying) standards unshaved and unrested,” Accardy said.

Unfortunately for the Matadors, national backstroke champion Chris Breedy and former Chinese Olympian diver Xioa-Xioa Chen became ineligible when Northridge declared its intent to move up to Division I status in athletics beginning in 1990.

Breedy and Chen could not compete at CSUN because Division I athletes are required to complete their eligibility within 5 years of attending their first college class. In Division II, there is no such rule, but CSUN must abide by Division I standards for 2 years before it is allowed entrance.

Despite that, Accardy gives the women’s team “an excellent chance” of repeating. “If we do as well at nationals as we did last year, we’re definitely the team to beat,” he said.

The outlook for the men’s team is not as bright.

Four members are currently academically ineligible and another, John Morrison, the school record-holder in the 1,650 freestyle, has been kicked off the team.

“If we don’t get a couple of those four guys back, we’re going to be hard pressed to stay in the top five,” Accardy said.

Ted Hollahan, John Kunishima, Rick Giambastini and Joe Brosler already have met national qualifying standards.