ST. LOUIS – Saint Louis head swimming and diving coach Jim Halliburton has announced the addition of Haley Debandt, Alexa Gross and Christa Rumbaugh to the women's team, while Grant Alef, T.J. Decker, Nick Jessee and Austin Nguyenphu join the men's team. All athletes will begin competition in 2013-14.
Debandt is a local product from Cor Jesu Academy in St. Louis. She is a freestyler who touched the wall at 56.93 in the 100-yard freestyle in the 2012 Speedo Champions Series in Jenks, Okla. Debandt also has personal records of 1:59.96 in the 200-yard freestyle, 5:14.68 in the 500-yard freestyle and 10:44.77 in the 1000-yard freestyle.
“We expect Haley to improve our depth in the middle distance and distance events,” Halliburton said. “She made huge improvements last year swimming for the Clayton Shaw Park swim team.”
Gross comes to SLU from Omaha Marian High in Omaha, Neb. She is ranked the 10th-best prep swimmer in the state by CollegeSwimming.com. At the 2012 Speedo Champions Series in Jenks, Okla., Gross touched the wall at 1:02.04 in the 100-yard backstroke. This time would have been the sixth-fastest time in the event at Saint Louis this season. Gross has finished in the top 12 of the Nebraska state meet in the 500- and 200-yard freestyle events in each of the past two seasons.
"We expect Alexa to add depth in the 50- through 500-yard freestyle events and help us in the backstroke events from time to time,” Halliburton said.
Rumbaugh is a Glendale, Wis., native who will compete in the sprint freestyle events for SLU. She is ranked by CollegeSwimming.com as the 15th-best prep swimmer in the state of Wisconsin. She has personal bests of 24.15 in the 50-yard freestyle and 52.52 in the 100-yard freestyle. Both of which would have ranked second at SLU this season.
“We are very excited to get Christa,” Halliburton said. “You can never have too many sprinters, and she is a good one. We expect her to compete to be our top sprinter next season. We might also try to use Christa to swim some backstroke on our 200 medley relay.”
Alef will come to Saint Louis from Big Ten member Minnesota. He swam in the backstroke events for the Gophers, setting personal bests of 50.57 in the 100-yard backstroke and 1:48.77 in the 200-yard backstroke events. He also swam in the distance freestyle events, with top times of 4:35.13 in the 500-yard freestyle, 9:30.33 in the 1000-yard freestyle and 16:01.02 in the mile. Alef's personal bests in the 1000- and 1650-yard freestyle events and the 200-yard backstroke are faster than the current SLU records. Alef was a highly touted prep swimmer, earning YMCA All-American status 33 times. He competed in the 2011 U.S0 Junior Nationals. Alef is a native of Maple Park, Ill.
“We are thrilled that Grant wanted to transfer to Saint Louis,” Halliburton said. “We really look forward to getting a top Big Ten swimmer like Grant. He is already faster than three of our school records and we plan on him helping our men's team continue the improvement it has shown the past two years.”
Decker comes to SLU from swimming powerhouse Brophy College Prep in Phoenix, Ariz. Brophy has won 25 consecutive Arizona state championships in boys' swimming. CollegeSwimming.com ranks Decker as the 13th-best prep swimmer in Arizona. He is a breaststroke and individual medley specialist with top times of 58.13 in the 100-yard breaststroke, 2:08.54 in the 200-yard breaststroke and 1:55.36 in the 200-yard individual medley.
“T.J. had a great senior year and helped Brophy win yet another state title,” Halliburton said. “T.J. should give us incredible depth in the breaststroke events and should also help a lot in the IM events.”
Jessee is a sprint freestyler from Hoffman Estates, Ill., who came in at 21.77 in the 50-yard freestyle at the 2013 NCSA Junior National Championships. Jessee has a personal best of 46.59 in the 100-yard freestyle and 1:41.02. He also can compete in the butterfly events and has a personal-best time of 51.91 in the 100-yard fly.
“Nick Jessee is a very good and versatile mid-distance freestyler,” Halliburton said. “We expect him to compete for a spot on our 800-yard freestyle relay at the conference championships and to compete in all of the freestyle distances for SLU next year.”
Nguyenphu is a breaststroke specialist from Southlake, Texas. He has set personal records of 57.70 in the 100-yard breaststroke and 2:03.97 in the 200-yard breaststroke. Nguyenphu is also adept in the 200-yard backstroke, recording a top time of 1:53.51. All of his times would have placed in the top three for SLU in 2012-13.
“Austin has the best times of any freshman coming to SLU,” Halliburton said. “His 400 IM time of 3:59.91 is better than our school record. His 200 breast time of 2:03.97 and 200 IM time of 1:52.42 are also the fastest of any incoming freshman. We expect Austin to cover a lot of different events for us in dual meets.”
