Indiana University Athletics
Former Olympian Joins Men's Swimming Program
8/31/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
August 31, 2004
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Former Ukrainian Olympian swimmer Sergey Fesenko will join the Indiana men's swimming and diving program this fall, head coach Ray Looze, announced Tuesday afternoon.
Fesenko competed for the Ukraine in the 2000 Olympics. He qualified to participate again this summer for the 2004 Athens Games but decided against competing because of questions regarding his NCAA eligibility.
Looze said Fesenko's times are already good enough to make him an NCAA finalist in several events. Fresenko's strongest event is the freestyle, and his top long course times are 1:50 in the 200 free, 3:51 in the 400 free and 8:02 in the 800 free.
"Fesenko will be eligible to compete this season," said Looze. "He will have at least two years of eligibility, and perhaps three, to compete at IU. This puts us at the point to win the Big Ten title and finish in the top 10 at the NCAA meet."
Several current members of IU's team gave up part of their scholarships so IU would have financial assistance for Fesenko to attend the university.
