By By Patrick McHugh, News Staff

Seven new swimmers will take to the pool for the 2009-10 season, headlined by an All-American and Olympic medalist.
Swimming and diving head coach Roy Coates announced his latest recruiting class Aug. 3.
2008 US Paralympic team gold-medalist Kelley Becherer and 2008 high school All-American Alison Blom are the most notable additions and will join freshmen Cassie Cesaro, Nicole Colucci, Annie Lindland, Keary McClernan, and Allison Walker.
Last season the Huskies finished 7-6 and took eighth at the Colonial Athletic Association championship, breaking 13 school records during the year.
‘I look for good student athletes who meet the needs of what we are losing as far as graduation,’ Coates said. ‘This class has all those things, and actually, a little bit more. We have seven athletes, all who are potential conference scorers. All seven fill in some need or some void that’s been left by the graduating senior class.’
Becherer, from Sheboygan, Wisc., is legally blind and has competed for the US Paralympic team, a team for athletes with physical and visual disabilities, since 2004. She has won three Olympic medals, three International Paralympic Committee medals, and has set one American national record and one Paralympic world record. She has competed for the US team in the 50-meter backstroke, 100-meter freestyle, and 400-meter freestyle. Both her national and world records were set in the 50-meter backstroke.
All-American Blom, out of Petaluma, Calif., was named team MVP and received All-League honors from 2006 to 2009. Her league-record in the 100-yard butterfly helped her high school squad twice become Sonoma County League Champions.
Cesaro earned the title of Most Valuable Swimmer all four of her years at Avon High School in Avon, Conn. She was named to the All-Conference team her freshman year and was captain of her team as a senior.
Colucci, from Clark, N.J., gained notoriety while swimming for Union Catholic High School as well as for the Fanwood Scotch Plains YMCA team. For Union Catholic, Colucci was an All-County selection for four years and was named the school’s Scholar-Athlete her senior year. Swimming with the Fanwood Scotch Plains YMCA team for 13 years, she set 11 relay records and five individual records and was a four-time YMCA All-American.
Lindland is a Hamilton native who competed for Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School. In 2009 at the Division II State Championship she finished first in the 100-yard backstroke and second in the 100-yard fly. After the championship she was named both Boston Globe and Boston Herald All-Scholastic and was named to the Cape Ann All-Star team.
McClerman, who was home-schooled in Durham, N.C., was named a North Carolina All-Star every year since 2003.
Walker, from Haddonfield, N.J., earned All-South Jersey and All-Colonial Conference first-team honors every year while swimming for Haddonfield Memorial High School. As a senior captain in 2009, Walker broke the school’s 400 freestyle record and helped her team to a state championship.
Coates said he will also look to his leadership to help out new team members and maintain chemistry.
‘I expect the upperclassmen to be great leaders and certainly help assimilate the freshmen onto the team,’ he said.