ECU diver Sean Picante contorts his body for a tough dive. | Catherine Lara/The Daily Cougar

Three UH divers were responsible for nine of the medals won as they placed top three in every diving event at the in this year’s Conference USA Swimming and Diving Championships. Senior diver Julia Lonnegren, sophomore Natasha Burgess and freshman Danielle Shedd all were part of the nine medal sweep that led UH to a second-place finish.

Lonnegren was named the C-USA Women’s Diver of the Year as she won two of events in the competition. She took first in the 3-meter diving event with an overall score of 346.15 points. Following Lonnegren were her two team mates, Burgess and Shedd, who both scored 328.15 and 259.35 respectively.

Burgess went on to win gold in the 1-meter diving event, beating out Lonnegren and Shedd, with a score of 304.35. Lonnegren took home gold in the platform dive with a score of 248.40.

Diving coach Jane Figueiredo won her twelfth C-USA Diving Coach of the Year award after her athlete’s performance.

“This is one of the most awesome group of girls I have ever witnessed,” Figueiredo said. ”The girls, team, coaching, camaraderie it has all came together and blended really well.“

The Cougars’ swimming team took second this weekend — their highest finish since a 2009 second place finish. Building upon the success of the first day of competition, the Cougars secured 18 medals over the three-day event.

“The first day is the most important day because you gain so many points, and you see all your teammates cheering; it gives you an extra boost,” said senior swimmer Reka Kovacs.

UH relay teams took home five medals and broke four school records in four of the relays. The Cougars took third in the 200 medley relay, 800 free relay, 200 free relay, 400 medley relay and in the 400 free relay.

After sweeping the top three spots in the three diving events, the Cougars were in first place with 564.5 points with only five events left in the competition. Rice had a big showing in the 100 freestyle that took four Rice swimmers to the finals. After the event, Rice led UH by 13.5 points, and the Cougars took second place overall.

Despite the performance by senior swimmer Holli Pisarski and Kovac who came in second and third place respectively, the Cougars still trailed Rice for first place overall. Rice won the C-USA Swimming and Diving Championships with a score of 739 points, with UH trailing with 694.5 points.

UH swimming head coach Augie Busch said he was proud of the team.

“I’m on cloud nine right now,” said Busch. “This is one of the best meets I’ve ever been a part of as far as coaching. I couldn’t be more proud of the women on this team. The divers were huge and Jane (Figueiredo) operates on a level of excellence that I try to match on a daily basis.“

Junior Heather Winn placed second in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:52.42 and added 17 points to UH’s overall total. Winn also placed third in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:48.74.

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Julia Lonnegren won C-USA Diver of the week four consecutive times in February. | Courtesy of UH Athletics

At diving practice while attempting a back-twister on the 3 meter, senior Julia Lonnegren’s favorite move on the diving board, she hears her head coach Jane Figueiredo tell her that bigger risks result in bigger rewards.

Lonnegren tries to keep her thoughts to a minimum, swing her arms fast and look at the water while she’s taking off.

She has been rewarded for her risks with four consecutive Conference USA Diver of the Week awards earlier this month and was named C-USA diver of the year for 2011-2012.

“She’s diligent, but this year especially, I’ve seen her really make a special effort on her nutrition, on fixing the little things that we’ve really been working on over the years, technique,” Figueiredo said.

“That’s the reason for the C-USA awards, and I hope her Conference championship is just as successful. For NCAA’s, I just want her to let it all hang out.”

Back home in Sweden, Lonnegren said she has four younger sisters who give her the drive to become a great diver and accomplish the things that she has at UH.

Lonnegren said she wants to set a good example for them to follow and hopes they will be attending her graduation. While Lonnegren said it’s hard for them to know exactly what’s been going on in her career, Figueiredo has always held the pool-side view.

Lonnegren said the three years she’s spent at UH have been a good preparation for her success in addition to practice, which has allowed her to develop consistency.

“Every season is to always perform and make the top at Conference and perform well at all boards: the 1 meter, 3 meter and 10 meter,” Lonnegren said. “I want to be able to go in there like I have done during the competitions this season, try to compete like practice and have consistency. I like to feel happy and calm at the same time; that makes me perform at my top.”

As her May 2014 graduation approaches, Lonnegren said she is enjoying the Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship where she works on multiple personal purpose assignments with Dave Cook, the director of Mentoring Programs, who has been helping her to set up some goals for her career post UH.

“I’ll definitely want to stay here for a year after and work and be able to utilize the contacts I’ve gained here and get some working experience. After that, I want to in some way stay in athletics and work out,” Lonnegren said.

Figueiredo is helping Lonnegren get ready to potentially compete for Sweden, allowing the duo to work together on an international level and further Lonnegren’s skills as a diver.

In her 22 seasons as diving head coach, Figueiredo has noticed Lonnegren from her initial arrival to the University.

“I think with Jules, it’s just making every day she comes in with just a great attitude, she smiles, and I just love her effort,” Figueiredo said. “Plus I’ll miss her passion and her commitment, and just what I love about being a UH Cougar she exudes that. That I want to see all of my girls leave here feeling that great spirit and this great feeling about being a Cougar.”

Figueirdo said Lonnegren has made each day special since joining UH.

“I’m very, very lucky she makes my job so much easier, and she’s such a great representative of our program and then of course the University of Houston,” Figueiredo said. “There are very few kids that come into your program quite like her.”

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The Cougars had 20 top-five finishes and placed 46 in the top-ten in the 20 events at the LSU quad meet. They get back into the pool Saturday against Texas A&M on the road. | File Photo/The Daily Cougar

Three months after the season began, the grind — mainly the fatigue of practice combined with meets — is beginning to take its toll, but that could be a good thing.

The team is tired, but it’s good that they’re tired because they’ve been working hard, said head coach Augie Busch.

“One of the nuances of swimming is you get beaten down when you’re training really hard,” Busch said. “You just get really tired so definitely that meet would stand out.”

The Cougars’ best meet was the Phil Hansel Invite at UH back in November, where Busch said the team has seen the most success.

The Cougars finished fifth at the Phil Hansel Invitational, setting 20 personal-best times and two school records during the three-day competition. The key, Busch said, is that the team was better rested — he wants the team to build toward a similar performance.

“It’s way more than just swimming, although that’s a big part of it. It’s also about getting stronger out of the water, so it encompasses a lot of different areas,” Busch said.

The swimming workout schedule consists of three days of weightlifting across campus, three days of running and working in the pool six days out of the week. Busch said he is a technical person and a big believer in film. Each practice he spends time showing the team what they need to improve on and what they’ve accomplished with professional films and recordings of their own meets.

“The eyes are connected to the muscles. I think most humans are visual learners for the most part, so a picture is worth a thousand words,” Busch said. “I can stand over the lane and tell them something, but until they see it, don’t expect them to really get it. I don’t understand why coaches don’t do this.”

Sophomore diver Natasha Burgess said her last two dives haven’t been what she expected and is working on improving.

“I slipped out of a dive midway. I was supposed to do a three and a half, and I lost grip on my legs and landed on my stomach. But I was really proud of myself because I kept competing, and I still got third in the meet even though I failed the dive,” Burgess said.

“The next couple meets, I’m mostly trying to improve on my confidence, go in with a better frame of mind going and hopefully come out with some better results.”

While the main goal for Busch and his team is to be faster in each of the three events at conference and beat personal best times, his focus is not on whether they win or lose.

“I really just want to improve. I really don’t want to think that if we don’t finish in the top two or three at conference then we’re failures,” Busch said. “I like to focus on our own gig and have the best meet we can.”

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Jane Figueiredo has been awarded C-USA diving coach of the year each season since it was created in 2002. | Courtesy of UH Athletics

Jane Figueiredo coaches while perched on the edge of a red cooler.  Her soft voice delivers instruction and encouragement to her divers as they flip through the air and slip into the water, and her Zimbabwean accent is just noticeable in between her contagious laughs.

But Figueiredo is not an ordinary coach.

She is the longest tenured coach in UH history and one of the most decorated, but she sometimes finds herself cancelling practice in favor of Starbucks or beach volleyball to keep things fresh and fun, which is not often a priority for highly competitive coaches and their teams.

Figueiredo was selected as C-USA Diving Coach of the Year every year since the award’s inception in 2002 and is a four-time recipient of the NCAA Diving Coach of the Year. In 2010, she was inducted in the UH Hall of Honor joining the ranks of Carl Lewis, Elvin Hayes and Wade Phillips.

Her divers have won eight national championships since 2001, a record in the NCAA.  A Houston diver has also won C-USA Diver of the Year every year since 2002 as well. Throughout her 22 seasons as coach, Firgueiredo has led 14 divers to 79 NCAA Championship appearances, two divers to eight NCAA titles, 14 of her athletes to 51 All-American honors and two former Cougars to win Olympic medals.

“Coaching is just in my blood.  I always wanted to be a teacher and I didn’t realize that at first.  I thought I could have a big impact on students,” Figueiredo said. “This is just where my forte lays.  I think it is really my calling.”

More than a coach

Figueiredo said her biggest priority is not to be a good coach, it’s to be a good person and teach her divers that there is life outside of diving.

“I always tell my girls that the most important thing is that people won’t ever remember your accomplishments, but they will always remember the person that you were and are,” Figueiredo said.

“Just to prove my point, I’ll ask my girls if they know who won the gold medal in the 1984 Olympics. None of them will have a clue.  But I remember not because they won gold but because of who they were as a person.”

During her four years at UH as a student, Figueiredo won the 1984 Southwest Conference title on the 3-meter springboard, was a five-time All-American and finished second at the 1985 NCAA championships establishing herself as one of the top divers in UH history.  She also competed in two world championships and the 1984 Olympic Games.

Swimming Head Coach Augie Busch is happy to have Figueiredo by his side.

“Jane knows the sport as well as anyone. She is an incredible teacher and very patient. She works with her walk-ons the same way she works with her NCAA champions.  She is a very passionate and energetic teacher,” Busch said. “Her divers know how much she cares about them. What she does transcends way beyond practice time. “

Setting the benchmark

Entering into her 23rd season, Figueiredo has the same goals for her divers as she has every year —qualify as many divers to the NCAA championships as possible and for those divers to perform their best once they get there.

“This is our last year in C-USA, so I want to go out with a bang and make sure we finished what we started,” Figueiredo said. “It has been 10 years of winning pretty much every event, which is a great feat.  Now, we are moving on to bigger and better things and hopefully we can keep that going.”

Diving senior Julia Lonnegren believes that Figueiredo’s lofty goals are what make the team so successful.

“She has the ability to bring out the best in everyone.  She has the kind of leadership style where you just always want to perform for her. You just never want to see her disappointed but in a good way,” Lonnegren said. “You want to live up to her expectations, which are high and that makes you just set the bar higher yourself.  And I think that is why she is able to bring athletes to a whole other level.”

Life is bigger than sport

Figueiredo said that when she does decide to retire, she dreams of travelling, spending months discovering a new place and then opening a small café.

“Most coaches in any sport live, breathe and eat their sport.  I actually don’t.  I do it when I’m here at the pool,” Figueiredo said.  “There is life after diving.  There has to be. I always tell my girls that, and I believe it for myself too.

Figueiredo, along with high expectations, tries to teach her athletes that life after diving is just as meaningful. She returned to UH after her successful diving career concluded and contributes as a coach. | Courtesy of UH Athletics

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Senior diver Julia Lonnegren captured her second weekly award and the ninth of her career following her sweep of the 1M and 3M events at North Texas. | Courtesy of UH athletics

Senior diver Julia Lonnegren continues her strong performance by winning the 1M with a 290.47 score and the 3M with a 310.87 against SMU and North Texas.

“We had just come off our training camp, so it’s always nice to see the training pay off. That’s very encouraging for me because it can be a little tiring to compete after an experience like that but I felt great out there last week and I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season,” Lonnegren said.

Lonnegren has placed among the top finishers in every event she has entered this year and was recently named Conference USA diver of the week.

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The UH women’s swimming and diving program put forth the extra effort in the the classroom being recognized by the CSCAA for their effort. | File photo/The Daily Cougar

— Christopher Shelton

They will represent their respective countries at the London Games.

Nolan posted a time of 45.25 in the men’s 400-meter in the Jamaica Championship. He earned a spot on the Jamaican 4×400-meter relay team, marking his first Olympics appearance.

Adigun, the current two-time Nigerian and African 100-meter hurdles champion, qualified for the Nigerian Olympic Team, where she won after posting a time of 13.13 seconds.

Pozdniakova achieved numerous accomplishments during her time as a diver at UH. This is her second appearance in the Olympics for Russia. She won a silver medal in the 3-meter synchronized springboard with fellow Cougar Yulia Pakhalina at the Beijing Olympics.

Figueiredo, coaching in her fifth straight Olympics games, will be working closely with Pozdniakova. She is a four-time NCAA Diving Coach of the Year and competed for Portugal during the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

UH has 67 student-athletes who have competed in the Olympics representing 22 different nations. Cougars have garnered 39 medals, including 20 golds.

— Christopher Shelton

The Cougars hope to bounce back at the C-USA Championships after losing to Texas A&M in their last outing, 186-103. | Brianna Leigh Morrison/The Daily Cougar

The Cougars will host the 2012 Conference USA Swimming and Diving Championships in a multi-day event starting Thursday at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium.

The Cougars will face stiff competition from last year’s champion Rice, who UH defeated 212-151 on Jan. 28, and also SMU, who UH lost to 155-143 on Jan. 21.

Thursday’s events will begin at 10 a.m. and include trials and finals in the 500-yard free, 200-yard individual medley, and the 50-yard free. Thursday will include the preliminary and semifinal rounds for 3M diving and finals in the 400-yard medley relay.

Events will continue again at 10 a.m. on Friday and Saturday with trial rounds in multiple individual swimming events as well as 1M diving on Friday, and platform diving on Saturday. Finals begin at 6 p.m. on both days with the 200-yard free relay starting off Friday’s finals and the 1650 free starting Saturday’s final events.

The Cougars followed strong wins over Conference USA foes Tulane and Rice with a 186-103 loss to No. 6 Texas A&M. Despite the loss, UH had impressive individual performances from Kim Eason and Beccy Hillis. | Brianna Leigh Morrison/The Daily Cougar

In their final tuneup before the Conference USA Championship, the Cougars fell 183-106 to Texas A&M on Friday at the CRWC.

Reigning C-USA Diver of the Week, junior Julia Lonnegren, had a solid performance taking third in the 1M (318.08) and fourth in the 3M (331.28).

Posting season-best marks, freshman Natasha Burgess took fourth in the 1M (314.93) and second in the 3M (339.08). The Cougar divers will most likely compete against the Aggies again in the NCAA championships later this year.

“That was a great squad for us to compete against,” Jane Figueiredo, head diving coach, said. “We did well today, Natasha turned in a huge performance and it’s good to see that performance at this time of year from a freshman.”

Senior Kim Eeson had a strong performance on Senior Day, placing in multiple events. Eeson took first in the 200 free (1:50.14), second in the 100 free (51.34), and second in the 100 fly (57.74).  Her times in the 200 free and 100 fly were season-bests.

Seniors Beccy Hillis and Natalie Newcomb finished second and third, respectively, in the 200 breast with Hillis at 2:22.12 and Newcomb at 2:27.83. Newcomb’s time was her best of the season in the 200 breast.

Despite the loss on Senior Day, the Cougars had encouraging performances against the No. 6 Aggies from the departing seniors, as well as the Cougars’ future leaders.

UH will next host the C-USA Championships from Feb. 15-18.

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Born in the cold of Lund, Sweden and diving in the heat of Houston, Lonnegren has been named the C-USA’s top diver five times this season. Lonnegren dove for first place in both  the one-meter (299.8) and platform dives (252.15) in UH’s Jan. 28 meet against LSU, Rice and Tulane, and placed second in the three-meter (312.6).

She has also prevailed to be the eighth Cougar diver in the past nine years to be awarded C-USA Freshman Diver of the Year.

Before upcoming meets, Lonnegren tries to get the most out of practice to help mentally prepare her.

“I trust my body when I’m in the water and try to stay focused, I try and stay calm and relax,” she said.

Lonnegren has big goals and the head diving coach, Jane Figueiredo, is also a big help in getting Lonnegren going.

“I want to be an All-American (diver). That would be my ultimate achievement,” Lonnegren said.

“Every day she comes with a ton of indescribable energy.”

Figueiredo was among reasons why Lonnegren came to the US and why she chose UH.

Raised on her family’s farm in Furulund, Sweden, Lonnegren likes the example she is setting for her four younger sisters.

“I try to do the best I can as a student athlete,” she said. “I try to focus and eat healthy, especially when a meet is coming up.”

Lonnegren uses her awards and accomplishments from the past 12 years of diving as the momentum for her bright future ahead.

She is undecided on her focus within the Bauer College of Business, but she is leaning towards a declaration in finance and plans to start her own business after graduation, possibly within the health industry.

Growing up, Lonnegren didn’t just dive, she was also a gymnast — which aided in her diving talent and techniques. She also competed in sailing and horseback riding prior to her college career, and somewhere along the way learned how to juggle coconuts.

Despite her successful college career, Lonnegren still tries to stay humble.

“I’m not a complete talent, I like to … work and listen to my coaches,” she said.

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The Cougars improved to 3-2 on the season with wins over Tulane and Rice on Saturday. | Josheph Lefler/The Daily Cougar

The Cougars defeated conference adversaries Rice (212-151) and Tulane (258-111), but lost to LSU (211-161) in a quad-team meet this weekend at the CRWC.

The Cougars improve to 3-2 overall after taking seven top-three finishes on Saturday afternoon.

Head Coach Augie Busch was happy with the outcome of the meet and the performance of his team.

“They are tired, and they are racing hard,” he said. “It was good to pull out two wins in this meet. LSU is on a high level. On the whole, it went pretty well. I’m pretty excited with where we are.”

In the first event of the meet, the 400-medley relay, the Cougars finished as runner up with a time of 3:52.21. The team also ended the event with a fourth-place finish in the 200-free relay (1:37.22). Senior Kim Eeson, who swam a butterfly leg of the second-place medley relay team, also had a solid performance in the 100 freestyle with a runner-up finish with the time of 51.55.

Junior Moira Fraser, who swam on the medley-relay team along with Eeson, finished just behind Eeson in the 100 free in third (52.76).  Eeason and Fraser also finished in first and second in the 200 free on Friday night.

Junior diver Julia Lonnegren was the only first-place winner for UH, taking an unscored-platform event. Lonnegren also took second in the 3M.

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The Cougars pushed the Mustangs to the final event of Saturday’s dual meet at the CRWC. UH rallied back with strong diving performances, but lost the match in the 200-free relay. | Joseph Lefler/The Daily Cougar

The Cougars narrowly lost 155-143 against conference-rival SMU on Saturday at the CRWC, falling in the final event.

The meet was decided by the winner of the 200-free relay in which the Cougars lost 1:28.35-1:32.76.

The Cougars finished first in seven events in the dual meet.

The swimmers started off strong, taking the first five events with Heather Winn as the first-UH winner after finishing in 17:18.23 in the 1,650 free. Winn also went on to finish as the runner-up in the 500 free (5:04.25) with Lizzie Justice taking third in both events.

In the second-to-last event of the day, the 400-yard IM, Reka Kovacs (4:32.86) and Natalie Newcomb (4:40.35) took first and second, further tightening the score with SMU.

The Cougar divers also made a splash with Julia Lonnegren sweeping the 1M (294.38) and 3M (303.90) for the third time this season.

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Following a loss to Miami at home, the Cougars finished fifth at the Rice Invitational over the weekend. The Cougars will next compete Nov. 17-19. | Joseph Lefler/The Daily Cougar

The Cougars finished fifth in their first outdoor meet of the fall at the Rice-Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Medical Center Fall Invitational.

Junior Reka Kovacs stood out for UH, finishing in the top 10 in four events — 400 IM, 200 IM, 100 Breastroke and the 200 Breaststroke.

Senior Kim Eason finished eighth in the 50 Free and 10th in the 100 and 200 Free.

Julia Lonnegren again led the divers with a second-place finish in the 1M and finished 10th in the 3M.

The Cougars’ next competition will be on campus on Nov. 17-19 at the Campus Recreation & Wellness Center for the Cougar Classic Invitational.

Men’s team finishes third at Conference USA Championships

For just the second time since joining Conference USA, UH recorded a top-three finish at the C-USA Championships.

Senior Wesley Ruttoh led the Cougars with a 23:55 time, good for third place individually.

Freshman Yonas Tesfai followed him for UH in eighth place with a time of 24:11.

Junior David Smith finished 16th overall with a 24:47 mark.

Ruttoh was named Senior of the Meet and was named to the All-C-USA First Team.

Tesfai was named Freshman of the meet and earned C-USA Second Team honors.

Smith was named to the C-USA Third Team.

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The Hurricanes defeated UH 136.5-103.5 in a dual meet.

“We’re just trying to swim through some really tired legs and bodies right now,” head coach Augie Busch said.

“We’ve been training really hard so as long as our effort and our attitude is there, that’s all I can ask for.”

UH was able to stand its ground during the first half as Heather Winn took first place in the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:18.56) and Reka Kovacs in the 200-yard individual medley, good for an NCAA B cut time in 2:07.47.

The diving events brought UH success as junior Julia Lonnegren took first in the 1-meter dive and second in the 3-meter, while freshman Natasha Burgess took third and fourth places.

“I have freshmen,” diving coach Jane Figueiredo said. “So the reality is we need to be a lot better. I wanted them to know this was going to be much tougher.

“When you dive against Miami, they are the real deal.”

The Hurricanes pulled ahead in the second half of the meet.

The Cougars won with Moira Fraser, Kim Eeson, Colleen Donovan and Maddie Clark finishing the 400-yard free relay in 3 minutes, 34 seconds.

“We have to bounce back from it,” Winn said. “We can’t always just go into a meet expecting to win.

“We were ready but there are points that we still need to work on.”

The Cougars are up against Arkansas, Boise State, Nebraska and host-school Rice on Friday.

“It’s going to be a tough meet,” Winn said. “But hopefully we can all pull it together and pull out a good meet against Rice because they’re our biggest rival.”

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