Hall of Fame
The 1981 Men's Swimming & Diving Team won the program's only Presidents' Athletic Conference title and also produced the highest national team finish at the NCAA Division III Championship meet.
JCU did not field a varsity swimming & diving team until 1975-76, and in that first year, the Blue Streaks finished sixth of seven teams in their first PAC Championships. By the second year, JCU was the runner-up behind Allegheny. This would also be John Carroll's finish in 1978, 1979 and 1980
In 1981, the Blue Streaks began the year finishing second at the Greater Cleveland Invitational, and then won the Notre Dame Relays. John Carroll then went 7-2 in its dual meet season, beating Oberlin, Carnegie Mellon, Hiram, Washington & Jefferson, Mount Union, Case Reserve and Bethany. Its only two losses were to defending national champion Kenyon and a one-point loss to defending PAC champion Allegheny, both on the road.
JCU led after day one of the PAC championships, 168-131, thanks to having the top five divers in the 1-meter competition, as well as a 1-2 finish in the 50 Free by Todd Grigereit and Paul Hulseman. On day two, a 1-2 finish in the 200 Free by Steve Brown and Bryan Alitto helped the Blue Streaks maintain the lead, as did a win in the 800 Free Relay by Hulseman, Andy Majeske, Alitto and Brown that broke the PAC and pool record.
On day three, Allegheny got to within 15 points of JCU after the mile swim, but Alitto and Hulseman finishing first and second in the 100 Free and the Blue Streaks never looked back. A sweep of the 3-meter podium by Doug Virden, Greg Patterson and Tim Donahoe sealed the win, and for punctuation, Hulseman, Grigereit, Alitto and Brown won the 400 Free Relay and qualified for nationals while breaking league and pool records.
The 1981 team featured seven conference champions and six All-Americans, and would go on to finish in seventh place at the NCAA Division III Championships. JCU had seven national qualifiers in 1981, and the All-American 800 Free Relay set a school record that stood for 29 years.
At the national meet, John Carroll's point scorers were Doug Virden (2nd place 3-meter diving; 3rd place 1-meter diving), Greg Patterson (3rd place 3-meter diving; 6th place 1-meter diving); Steve Brown (12th in 200 Free) and the quartet of Steve Brown, Andy Majeske, Paul Hulseman, Bryan Alitto (7th place in 800 Freestyle Relay)
Team Roster
Bryan Alitto, So.
Mark Bombelles, Jr.
Steve Brown, Fr.
David Byars, Jr.
Kevin Carmony, So.
Frank Cicco, Jr.
Tim Donahoe, So.
Peter Francel, Fr.
Mike Gingo, Sr.
Todd Grigereit, Fr.
Hal Hawk, Sr. (Captain)
David Holtz, So.
Paul Hulseman, Jr.
Joe Kovach, Jr.
Richard Lewandowski, Sr. (Captain)
Andy Majeske, So.
John Mech, So.
Paul Mulvihill, Fr.
Ned Nicosia, Jr.
Phillip O'Neil, So.
Greg Patterson, Fr.
David Schmidt, Jr.
Robert Uphues, Fr.
Doug Virden, Sr.
Ron Zwierlein, Head Coach
Larry Terry and Mark Milroy, Assistant Coaches
Annette Costa and Mary Carol Knectges, Managers
Note: Rita Braun and Amy DeLaVergne were also in the program as members of the women's swimming & diving team
