Oct. 2, 2006

Washington, D.C. - Georgetown University Head Coach Bethany Bower named the captains for the men's and women's swimming and diving teams for the 2006-07 season. On the men's side, sophomores David Ballinger (Pleasantville, N.Y./Pleasantville) and Daniel Robinson (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) will serve as the co-captains, while seniors Liz Nugent (Westport, Conn./The Hopkins School), Laura Sytnyk (Nutley, N.J./Mount St. Dominic) and Jennifer Zocca (Summit, N.J./Summit) were named tri-captains of the women's squad.

"David Ballinger and Dan Robinson have already shown great leadership in and out of the water," Bower said. "Both men qualified for the BIG EAST Championship last freshman year and they will lead a very talented freshman class."

Sytnyk is the school record holder in the 200 butterfly, a record she has set and reset each year, while Nugent is a member of the school record-holding 2000 medley relay quartet. Sytnyk is also a tough competitor in the 400 individual medley and Nugents swims the backstroke and individual medley. Zocca is a backstroke and freestyle swimmer.

"Liz Nugent, Jenni Zocca and Laura Sytnyk are seniors who have earned varsity letters all three years. The three women will lead a solid core of uperclass student-athletes and a very talented freshman class."

The swimming and diving team looks to improve upon its 2005-06 achievements including setting seven new school records, sending 20 student-athletes to the BIG EAST Championships and four to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championships, while maintaining a high grade point average (GPA) as each squad has earned CSCAA (College Swimming Coaches Association of America) Acadmic All-America status since Bower took over the program in 1994.

"I feel that it's truly an honor to be able to lead a team that has meant so much to me for the past three years," Zocca said. "This year one of our major goals is to send over 80 percent of our team to the BIG EAST Championships in February."

"Being a captain means leading the team to success both in and out of the pool," Nugent said. "It also means representing the team to the best of my ability to the coach and the athletic department. My personal goals for the team are to maintain our academic excellence from last season and to move up in the BIG EAST Conference. Our team is really looking forward to a season full of dual meets with BIG EAST teams, something we haven't been able to do before."

Georgetown opens the 2006-07 season on Friday, October 13 when they travel to American University for the Potomac Relays at 5 p.m.