August 30, 2006

Dear Friends of WVWC Swimming,

I would like to welcome everybody to the 2006-2007 WVWC Swimming season.  I have recently arrived on campus and I have been warmly welcomed by all the staff and swimmers here at WVWC.  I am very excited about taking over the reigns as the next Bobcat swim coach.  I see a program steeped in history and tradition.  I aim to keep these traditions alive, while creating new ones, during my tenure here at WVWC.

I will provide you some background on myself.  I swam competitively at the NCAA Division III level at Case Western Reserve University, where I competed as a distance swimmer.  After receiving my degree in 2002, I served two years as an assistant coach.  I then moved onto Michigan State University where I am finishing up a Master’s degree in Kinesiology and Biomechanics.  I served as a volunteer coach at MSU and headed up a developmental team on campus. 

The majority of my coaching influence comes from my time at CWRU.  My coach there, Todd Clark, is a graduate of Kenyon College.  Many of the training sets and techniques that I encountered at CWRU mirror that of the very successful Kenyon program.  The one thing I value and ask of all my swimmers to come in every day and work hard.  Swimmers that are committed to improving themselves, their teammates, and the program will find success. 

One of my first goals is to grow the teams – right now we are looking at 15-20 total members on both the men’s and women’s teams.  Through an active recruiting program I want to increase roster sizes over the next couple of years so that we can field a full squad (18 swimmers each) at the conference meet.  Fielding full squads will allow us to be competitive in dual meets, at the conference meet, and at the NCAA Division II meet.  Aside from being competitive in the pool, I ask all athletes to strive for academic excellence.  Wesleyan swimmers will be successful in the classroom, in the pool, and will be pillars of the college. 

Competing as a collegiate swimmer is no small task.  It is the culture of the sport that athletes devote countless hours to practicing and self-improvement.   This dedication to the sport often goes unrecognized by their peers.  As friends and family of Wesleyan swimmers I ask you to be supportive of all members of the team.  We are all part of the Wesleyan swimming family and the more support and encouragement the athletes receive, the more success they will see. 

I encourage you to take the time to contact me and introduce yourself.  I am accessible through email at dziak@wvwc.edu, phone at 304.473.8507, or if you are in town feel free to stop by my office across from the pool.  I look forward to getting to know each and every one of you.

Sincerely,

Mark A. Dziak
Head Swimming Coach
West Virginia Wesleyan College