By Brock Letchworth, The Daily Reflector
Throughout his tenure at East Carolina, Pirate Swimming and Diving coach Rick Kobe has developed one of the most consistent athletic programs at the school. With the addition of his latest recruiting class, Kobe appears to be keeping it that way.

After adding nine swimmers during the early signing period in November, the Pirates inked six more during the recent spring signing period, bringing the total number of signees to 15. ECU also received commitments from eight non-scholarship athletes, paving the way for continued success in the water for the Pirates.

"I think we have signed a great group of freshmen to join our program," Kobe said. "We've been very fortunate here because we have a great coaching staff that really does a good job of showing the kids not just a great swimming program, but what a great school we have too."

Kobe, fresh off his 22nd year as ECU coach, has led the Pirates to eight conference championships, two for the men and six for the women. According to the coach, winning may be the biggest factor in his ability to recruit some of the top athletes.

"We do a good job of selling the product, which is not that difficult when you have a good product to sell," Kobe said. "I think that success does breed success and I see no reason why we can't continue it in the years to come."

The Pirates finished second in Conference USA in men's and women's action this past season, continuing a streak of second place or higher finishes since joining the league. ECU had 16 swimmers earn All-Conference honors, including two-time C-USA swimmer of the year Dianne Parker, a junior who earned two conference individual titles and qualified for the NCAA Championships.

Although the Pirates lose nine members from the mens' squad and three from the womens' team, Kobe is excited about what the incoming freshmen bring.

"We really didn't lose a lot on the girls' squad, and we're bringing in 12 talented kids, so we could certainly take a step up," Kobe said. "Our guys lost a talented bunch of seniors, but we're also bringing in some talented, maybe even better swimmers that are going to help us there too."

Among the recent signees for the Pirate women are distance freestyler Austine Enderle (Mewark, Del.) and backstroker Sarah Black (Midlothian, Va.). Enderle and Black join a group of five newcomers that signed during the fall. Backstroker Elizabeth Claire Moore (Huntsville, Ala.), diver Christie Icenhower (Lawrenceville, N.J.), diver Andrea DePhillips (Action, Mass.), freestyler Kim Brewer (Matthews, N.C.) and distance freestyler Megan Pulaski (Greenville, N.C.) announced their intentions during the early signing period. Pulaski, a senior at Trinity Christian School, already has times in the 1650 and 1000 that are under existing ECU varsity records.

"When freshmen come in, they should be equal to if not more talented than what you have," Kobe said. "That's really what you need if you're going to get better each year."

Non-scholarship commitments for the women's squad include sprint freestyler Gillian Morrow (Lexington, N.C.), middle distance freestyler Alexandria Knox (Stevensville, Md.), diver Celeste Lajoinie (Topsfield, Mass.), backstroker Whitney Riefler (Newport News, Va.) and freestyle sprinter Claire Campbell (Chapel Hill, N.C.).

On the men's side, ECU signed four during the spring period. Sprint backstroker and sprint flier Greg Neville (Vernon, Conn.), backstroke flier Josh Barthlow (Butler, Pa.), breaststroker Charlie McCanless (Matthews, N.C.) and sprint flier Chad Swanson (North Attleboro, Mass.) recently made their commitment to ECU, while freestyler Jared Gutierrez (Alpharetta, Ga.), breaststroker Drew Greco (Newport News, Va.), diver Ryan Hunt (Eastampton, N.J.) and diver Tarver Mygatt (Winston, Ga.) each signed in November.

Three other non-scholarship recruits joined the men's team. Distance freestyler Kevin Turnbull (Charlotte, N.C.), sprint freestyler Bryan Palmer (Roanoke, Va.) and backstroker Geoff Handsfield (Morehead City, N.C.) also announced their intentions to swim with the Pirates.