Oct. 14, 2010

By Neal Ruhl
Athletic Communications contributor

In the Oakland University Swimming and Diving offices, there is a map of the world on the wall. The map is a fitting tribute to head coach Pete Hovland's mix of domestic, and now, international talent that has his Golden Grizzlies squad poised for a run at their 12th consecutive Summit League titles on both the men's and women's sides.

Hovland says recruiting abroad has afforded him the opportunity to recruit from a wider talent base than he might have been able to here in the states. "It gives us a chance to get kids that are comparable in the pool to the top recruits here in America," Hovland said. "The American education is also a big incentive."

That education was one of the main reasons Oakland University landed sophomore women's swimmer Vanessza Balogh. Balogh was the Hungarian National junior champion in multiple events, but says education is her driving force in the pool.

"It's (school) so different here, I can't even describe it," Balogh, a studio art major said. "Right now I'm a graphic design minor so we do a lot of stuff on computers."

Winning is also a great recruiting tool as well, and the success Hovland's Golden Grizzlies program has had left its mark on freshman Grant Harding. The Guelph, Ontario, Canada native was a member of the 2010 Junior Pan Pacific Championship team and said winning is one of the main reasons he came to OU.

"I was looking through the roster online and I saw this guy went to the NCAA Championship, and so did this guy and I thought to myself, these guys must be pretty good," Harding said. "Plus my dad told me they have won the Summit League like a bazillion times in a row, and I liked the facilities." Coach Hovland's track record for improving swimmers was also a big factor to Harding coming to Oakland University.

"I want to win, but I also want to get better," Harding said. "With the coaches here and also coach Hovland being an experienced swimmer, I knew I could get better here."

Getting better is something Harding wants to do not only to continue the legacy of dominance Oakland University has enjoyed as a team, but also to swim for his native country of Canada.

"The Olympics for Canada is my goal," Harding said. "I want to be the next Victor Davis (Gold medalist in 1984 Olympics) from Guelph." The Olympics are also a goal for freshman Matyas Keresztes. The Sasd, Hungary native got visible goose bumps even talking about what that accomplishment would mean to him.

"I can't even put something like that into words," Keresztes said as he cracked a smile. "You can wear the warm-ups of your nation."

Keresztes also said while it was hard to leave everything back home, he loves everything about being in America and at Oakland University.

"The education system here is more practical. Everything is more developed here. The buildings, the swim team, everything," Keresztes said with that same smile on his face. "This is the best part of my life.

For freshman Amr el Sayed, the decision to come to Oakland University was made easy by his coach in Egypt, Haitham Hassan. Hassan won six Summit League titles while swimming at Oakland University, and also competed in the Olympics for Egypt in 2000. "I trust my coach," el Sayed, who holds two Under-18 Egyptian swimming records said. "Coach Pete has a good swimming program, so that's why I'm here."

El Sayed says getting better in the pool is the main reason he is at Oakland University.

"The education is good," el Sayed said. "But there are good schools in Egypt also. It's about improvement, the (swimming) practice is the main thing. I'm focused on education also, but swimming is why I'm here."

With all of this international talent at Oakland University, it is no surprise the Golden Grizzlies are favorites to continue their Summit League dynasty. It's also no surprise, the map of the world in the swimming office has a lot of pinholes.

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