But that was last year. Hartman is gone now, graduated. But that by no means declares that either the women’s or men’s team will be short changed for the 2004-2005 campaign.

Head Coach Shannon O’Brien admits the loss of Hartman and others will hurt, but says the expectations are still high for both teams, especially for the men.

“Obviously Meghan was a big loss, and lost four other girls, so we will have to replace them,” O’Brien, now in her 10th year as RPI’s head coach, said. “We have a lot of depth on the women’s side.

“This really is the year for the men to really see what we are made of,” O’Brien said.

The men’s team only graduated one team member last year, a diver, and with NCAA National Honorable Mention Pat Fell returning this could indeed be a very successful year for the Red Hawks.

“The core of the group is back,” O’Brien said. “We want to improve on our third place finish at [state] championships last year.”

And while senior captain Fell will be the leader of a large group of 33 men he will undoubtedly not be doing it alone. Fellow captains Pat Spooner and Rob Olivo along with sophomore Mike Scibelli will be sharing the load as they try and push the Red Hawks through the tough waters of the Liberty League and New York State.

The women will be relying on some senior leadership from Jen Byczek, Elisa Prange, Katie Fredlund, Jenn Peck, Jennifer Keyes, and All-American diver Melissa Hershey.

Hershey, like Fell, will be a focal point for the Red Hawks, a deep, but fairly inexperienced group of women just beginning to tread the dangerous waters of New York. The 23 member squad includes eight sophomores and five freshmen, who will have to step up and fill some roles vacated after last season.

“We want to improve on our fifth place finish at championships last year,” O’Brien said. “We are young, but they [the sophomores] know what to expect now. They know what is expected of them.”

Both teams have an extremely difficult schedule ahead of them as they faced Rochester this weekend and will square off with state powerhouses Ithaca and Hartwick in the next two weeks.

And that wouldn’t bother O’Brien if she hadn’t lost two weeks of practice due to a NCAA amendment that shortened the length of the teams’ seasons from 21 to 19 weeks.

“It’s tough,” O’Brien admitted. “You have to get everyone back in water shape quickly.”

While O’Brien is confident her players are in good physical condition, there is a difference once immersed in the water.

“They all worked hard over the summer and did what they could, but those first two weeks we really use to get back in racing shape and to help everyone get re-accustomed to the pool.”

With those two weeks gone, O’Brien will be relying more on her players’ natural ability to get the job done early in the season, and will hopefully have everyone peaking by the time the championship meets roll around in the spring semester.

O’Brien sees no reason why she along with Fell, Hershey, and others won’t be returning to the championships in March.

“Pat got a taste of what it is like and is determined to get back,” O’Brien said. “But I have the feeling he won’t be alone.”

The men’s team fared well in their opening meet this weekend, beating Rochester 137-95 on Saturday at the Robison Pool. The Red Hawks received a pleasant surprise in their first meet as freshman Matthew Hiltner won the 200-meter individual medley, the 100-meter butterfly, and was part of the victorious 200-yard medley relay.

Fell took second in the 200-yard freestyle, 500-yard free, and the 400-yard freestyle relay.

The women had a tougher time than the men as they lost the season’s opening meet 157-80 to the Yellowjackets also at Robison Pool on Saturday. Melissa Hershey had a solid day as the All-American won both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives.

Both the men and women will square off with one of the state’s consistently best squads, Ithaca, next Saturday.