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Purdy’s goal is swimming titles for YSU
Coach wants to make Penguins a priority for top swimmers
By Greg Gulas
BEAVER TOWNSHIP
Ryan Purdy has lofty goals for the Youngstown State swimming and diving program.
Speaking to Curbstone Coaches on Monday at Avion Banquet Center, Purdy said he realizes it will take time to implement his coaching style.
Purdy took over the program in May. His assistant coaches are Kate Johnson and Jacqueline Stanko.
Purdy said his research on the Penguins and Mahoning Valley yielded so many positives that when the head swimming position became open, he couldn’t pass up the opportunity for his first Division I program.
“YSU already has name recognition and the Penguin brand is well-known nationwide,” Purdy said. “That always helps in recruiting and if I was able to identify with it, then I felt others would as well.”
Purdy came to YSU after serving as an assistant coach at Minnesota, helping the Golden Gophers to five Big Ten Conference women’s team championships and three Top 10 NCAA finishes.
He spent his final two seasons as UM’s head assistant coach for its men’s and women’s programs, helping the women to 14 (11 individual, three relay) and men five (four individual, one relay) All-America laurels during last season’s NCAA Championships.
His goal is to win league titles and place Penguin swimmers in the yearly NCAA national championships.
“I was looking for the right opportunity because we had things rolling at Minnesota,” Purdy said. “We had the resources available to us in order to compete and be successful and I feel that same way about YSU, which is why I felt this was the right fit for me.
“Our goal is to compete, contend for the Horizon league title and place our swimmers in the NCAA national championships.”
Purdy’s roster boasts six seniors, five juniors, four sophomores and seven freshmen.
Three hail from Texas, three are from Budapest, Hungary, and another is from France. Two are Michigan natives with Kentucky, Indiana, Nebraska and Pennsylvania also represented.
Of the four Ohioans dotting the roster, Taylor Tofil of Cardinal Mooney is the lone local graduate.
The six seniors are Madison Aranda (butterfly-free), Bethany Glick (diving), Kolbrun Jonsdottir (breaststroke), Viktoria Orosz (backstroke-free), Rachel Shipp (butterfly) and McKenzie Stelter (diving).
“While I did not recruit any of the players on this year’s roster, I can tell you that the entire staff has been impressed with everyone,” Purdy said. “It is important to recruit locally, but we have some work to do.
“We have already hit the ground running because I want to keep those local and regional swimmers right here,” Purdy said. “I want YSU to be their first viable option and the better we become, the broader our spectrum becomes.
A native of Fort Atkinson, Wis., Purdy embraces the blue-collar, hard-working ethic of his swimmers and that of the Mahoning Valley.
His first dual meet at the University Akron on Oct. 6 yielded personal best’s with some of his swimmers and divers.
This year’s Horizon League swimming and diving championships will be Feb.21-24 at Cleveland State University.