Sturdy announces four men's swimming signees

Recruits from South Africa, Indiana, Texas, Washington

ALAMOSA, Colo.— Adams State College swimming coach Rebecca Sturdy has announced the names of the first four recruits who have signed national letters of intent to continue their educational and swimming careers with the Grizzlies, starting this fall.

The signees, the first of many more that Sturdy expects to receive letter of intents from in the coming days and weeks, are Heinrich Badenhorst of Brits, South Africa, Max Berumen of Lafayette, Ind., Cody Robson of Athens, Texas and Taylor Rousell of Port Orchard, Wash.

Adams State will be fielding a men’s swimming team for the first time since the mid 1970’s in 2010-11 after the women’s swimming program was started last year.

Badenhorst, a 5-foot-8, 150-pounder, currently swims for the Linda De Jager coached Diadora club team based in the South African city of Pretoria, after spending 2008 and 2009 with the Yvonee Victory coached Tuks Aquatics club.  He is primarily a freestyle and butterfly swimmer and placed second in the 400-meter and sixth in the 50-meter freestyle events at the 2009 North-West Provincial Championships.

Academically, Badenhorst posted a 3.66 GPA in his time at Brits High School and was an academic merit badge recipient in Grade 8 and 12.  The son of Hein and Marthie Badenhorst, he plans to major in human performance and physical education.

“Hein is our lone foreign student in the coming year.  He’s currently training with some of the country’s Olympians and spends time with a great physical trainer.  His training is paying off as he’s improving with every meet.  He will bring a very strong work ethic and a love for the relays to the team,” Sturdy said.

Berumen, a 6-foot-3, 180-pounder, specializes in the freestyle and individual medley events.  He was a state qualifier for the Amanda Cox McCutcheon High School Mavericks and helped the team win a sectional title.  He also swims for the MVA club team and plans to major in pre-medicine.

He is the son of Jose and Rebecca Berumen and holds a 3.0 high school GPA.

“Max has a great body fame to work with.  He’s one of our tallest athletes and has a huge wingspan. He’s relatively raw, but with such great malleable material, it will be very easy for him to improve,” Sturdy said.

Robson is a 6-foot-4, 172-pound breaststroker, freestyler and individual medley swimmer who graduated from Athens High School in 2009.  He attended Tyler Junior College, which does not have a swimming program, this year.

He was a first team all-state, all-region and all-district swimmer throughout his career with the Jonathan Mayer and Nancy Moore coached Hornets and was named as the district swimmer of the year in 2008 and 2009.  He was also high school all-American in 2009 after finishing second in the 100-yard breaststroke at the Texas 4A State Championships.

Robson also swims for the Metroplex Aquatics club and plans to major in sports psychology.

The son of Willy and Sheri Robson, he graduated from high school with a 3.85 GPA and was a member of the national honor society.

“Cody is our ‘big gun’ on the men’s team. By all rights, he should be swimming Division I. However, he’s intrigued by the way we do things here and he could see how the changes he’ll make here could make his stroke and training that much better.  Cody is also a very goofy guy that will be a lot of fun to have on the team.  However, he’ll also bring maturity as he swam club for a year after high school,” Sturdy said.

Rousell is a 6-foot, 175-pound freestyler and butterflyer out of South Kitsap High School.  He was the Wolves’ team captain for each of the last two years and placed second in the 100-yard freestyle at the 4A Washington State Championships for coach Tami Lester-Dame’s squad.  He also swims for the Puget Sound Swim Club Seadragons and the Olympic Aquatic Club, based in Port Orchard and Bremerton, Wash., respectively.

The son of Cliff Rousell and Marcia Holmes-Rousell, he holds a 3.5 GPA and plans to major in computer science.  His sister Madison swims for Division I UNLV.

“Taylor was a great find and someone that contacted me instead of the other way around. He has a great freestyle and butterfly and will be a major points contributor at every competition we participate in. He’ll also be a big factor in the relays. He’s also very tall and has great potential to improve vastly,” Sturdy said.