Oct. 5, 2011

GREENVILLE, N.C. --- The East Carolina men's and women's swimming and diving teams will open the 2011-12 season Thursday afternoon against instate rival North Carolina at Minges Natatorium with a 5 p.m. dual meet.

The Pirates are opening the season against the Tar Heels for the third consecutive season. ECU hosted UNC at Minges Natatorium to begin the 2009-10 season before it visited Koury Natatorium in Chapel Hill to start the 2010-11 campaign. UNC won each of the four dual meets.

ECU has a combined roster that includes 46 returning lettermen, 14 all-conference performers and eight NCAA `B' qualifiers. The Pirates also added 14 newcomers this season.

"We are really excited about the potential that we've got with the upperclassmen that we've got coming back and these new kids," Pirate head coach Rick Kobe said. "We just had our early season Purple-Gold meet and set six records; all records were set by freshmen."

The ladies are coming off a 9-3 season from a year ago and a second-place finish at the Conference USA Championships. The men's team also posted a nine-win season and posted a third-place finish at the C-USA Invitational in 2010-11. The UNC men's and women's teams each finished second at the ACC Championships, while the men's team placed 14th at the NCAA Championships and the women tied for 23rd.

"We like to swim big and fast teams," Kobe said. "It'll be fun to open with the Tar Heels."

The ECU women's team will be led by a quartet of all-conference seniors: Holly Berenotto, Kelsey Brosi, Meghan Coyne and Kylie Francis. Sophomores Anna Gibas and Meaghan Rauscher, who both set ECU freshmen records last season and earned all-league accolades, will be counted on as well.

Sophomore Attila Kiraly, the 2011 C-USA Invitational 400 IM winner, anchors the men's team that features seven All-Conference USA performers.

Admission to all swimming and diving meets at Minges Natatorium is free.

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