ECU Announces Men's Swimming & Diving Class

GREENVILLE, N.C. --- The ECU men's swimming and diving program has added 11 student-athletes to its 2018-19 roster, head coach Matthew Jabs announced Monday.

The group includes North Carolina natives Johnny Darguzas (Maggie Valley), Ethan Knorr (West Salisbury), Pietro Nannucci (Greensboro) and Hunter Pigg (Raleigh).

Ryan Brennan (Haddon Township, N.J.), Ben Gingher (Boalsburg, Pa.), Luke Stivers (Boynton Beach, Fla.) and Jake Venegoni (Ballwin, Mo.) also committed to compete for the Pirates as did a trio of international competitors: Gavrilo Blijden (Curacao), Eric Hinderup (Sweden) and Marek Osina (Czech Republic).

"This class is a great mix of talent in all areas of our roster," Jabs said. "Signing talented recruits is nothing new for us; the challenge we faced this season was bringing in the volume of athletes between both the women's and men's class at a level that fit our program and met our goals and expectations.

"In total we will have 25 new faces on the team this season. I could not be more pleased with the efforts of our staff, especially my director of recruiting Kate Moore. Without her leadership in recruiting and many hours of work and travel, we would not have this group of athletes joining the Pirate family."

2018-19 ECU MEN'S SWIMMING & DIVING NEWCOMERS
Gavrilo Blijden 5'7, Jr. – Diver
Hometown: Willemstad, Curacao Indian River State College
Intended Major: Public Health
Coach's Thoughts - He is a fantastic athlete. Gavrilo has only been diving for a short time and is already doing the more difficult dives. He has all of the tools to be a top diver in the American Athletic Conference.

Ryan Brennan 5'10, Fr. – Backstroke
Hometown: Haddon Township, N.J. Greater Philadelphia Aquatic Club
Intended Major: Accounting
Top Ranking: N.J. Top 30 – CollegeSwimming.com
Top Times: 100 Back 49.98, 200 Back 1:49.89
Coach's Thoughts - Ryan is going to be a very good swimmer for us. He will be a joining of a very talented group of backstroke swimmers, that will be relied upon heavily throughout the season.

Johnny Darguzas 6'1, Fr. - Middle Distance/IM/Fly
Hometown: Maggie Valley, N.C. Smokey Mountain Aquatic Club
Intended Major: Engineering
Top Ranking: N.C. Top 50 – CollegeSwimming.com (33)
Top Times: 400 IM 4:02.59, 100 Fly 51.42, 200 Fly 1:52.86, 500 Free 4:35.74, 200 Back 1:52.61
Coach's Thoughts – Johnny swims a number of different events has been coached by a former Pirate. He is fairly new to the sport and has made big improvements over the past season. I am looking forward to seeing what he will do in our program.

Ben Gingher 5'11, So. - Breaststroke
Hometown: Boalsburg, Pa. Eastern Michigan University
Intended Major: Marketing
Top Finishes: Mid-American Conference 2 event finalist
Top Times: 100 Breaststroke 55.67, 200 Breaststroke 1:59.39
Coach's Thoughts – We feel very fortunate to add Ben to our team. He had a very strong freshman year. I think Ben will have a fantastic opportunity to continue his development with us and Coach Kevin in our breaststroke group.

Eric Hinderup 6'1, Fr. - Sprint Freestyle/ Fly
Klagsham, Sweden Malmo Kappsimningsklubb
Intended Major: Finance
Top Times: 50 Free 22.88 SCM, 100 Free 50.07 SCM, 100 Fly 54.22 SCM
Coach's Thoughts – I had fun recruiting Eric. On top of his high level of talent, he has a great personality, and will be an asset to a veteran sprint group.

Ethan Knorr 5'9, Fr. - IM/Distance Freestyle
West Salisbury, N.C. Greensboro YMCA
Intended Major: Chemistry
Top Ranking: N.C. Top 15 – CollegeSwimming.com
Top Times: 200 Back 1:48.86, 1650 15:40.16, 400 IM 3:59.24
Coach's Thoughts – A strong all-around swimmer who can swim a number of events for us. He will add depth to our IM and distance events.

Pietro Nannuccci 6'1, Fr. - Sprint Freestyle
Hometown: Greensboro, N.C. Greensboro Swim Association
Intended Major: Political Science
Top Ranking: N.C. Top 25 – CollegeSwimming.com
Top Times: 50 Free 21.57, 100 Free 45.59, 200 Free 1:39.37
Coach's Thoughts – High ceiling, had some considerable time drops as a senior, and will be fun to watch develop in our sprint program.

Marek Osina 5'10, Fr. - IM/Backstroke/Butterfly
Hometown: Kromeriz, Cezch Republic KPSP Kometa Brno
Intended Major: Undecided
Top Ranking: 2018 Recruiting Class Top 50 - CollegeSwimming.com
Top Times: 200 IM 1:58.45 SCM, 400 IM 4:14.12 SCM, 100 Back 54.99 SCM , 200 Back 1:57.99 SCM, 200 Fly 1:58.84 SCM
Coach's Thoughts – Marek can swim just about anything, and do it at a very high level. Really excited about what that versatility means for our team.

Hunter Pigg 5'11, Fr. – Butterfly/Freestyle
Hometown: Raleigh, N.C. Marlins Of Raleigh
Intended Major: Engineering
Top Ranking: N.C. Top 30 – CollegeSwimming.com
Top Times: 100 Fly 50.01, 200 Fly 1:51.38, 200 Free 1:41.55
Coaches Thoughts – Comes from one of the strongest programs in the state, looking forward to adding Hunter to the fly group.

Luke Stivers 5'10, Fr. – Diver
Boynton Beach, Fla. Ft. Lauderdale Dive Team
Intended Major: Graphic Design
Coach's Thoughts – Luke possess extreme athletic ability, which will allow us to challenge him with more difficult dives. Luke has experience on platform and will have an immediate impact for the team in all three diving events.

Jake Venegoni 5'8, Fr. – Diver
Hometown: Ballwin, Mo. Clayton Diving Alliance
Intended Major: Pre-Med/Biology
Coaches Thoughts – Jake has great fundamentals and possesses natural talent that can't always be taught. Jake has great hands and knows how to get into the water clean. He has tremendous upside and the ability to be a big contributor at our conference meet.

Players Mentioned

Gavrilo Blijden

Ryan Brennan

Johnny Darguzas

Ben Gingher

Eric Hinderup

Ethan Knorr

Pietro Nannucci

Marek Osina

Hunter Pigg

Luke Stivers

Jake Venegoni

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