University of Tennessee Athletics
Swim Vols Ink Ireland's Barry Murphy
April 27, 2005 | Men's Swimming & Diving
April 27, 2005
The Tennessee men's swimming and diving team has added another foreign standout with the inking of Dublin, Ireland's Barry Murphy. With his signing, the Vols continue the Irish connection that began with former Vol All-America Andrew Bree (2001-04).
"Barry is an exceptional athlete with phenomenal physical skills and a potentially unbelievable upside," UT head coach John Trembley said. "He has a great sense of humor and a calmness about him which seems to be present only in the really great ones. Barry will be a front-runner, we believe, at the NCAA in sprint freestyle and breast events. We will count heavily on Barry to strengthen many of our relays next year, which are already vastly improved with the other outstanding incoming freshmen.
"His mother Liz and father Brian have been very supportive of this process," Trembley said. "Barry has great coaching at home, however the facilities and lack of great athletes around him in training are some of the reasons why he needed to come to the U.S. to fully bring out his potential."
Murphy's top times include 22.7 in the 50-meter free, 50.0 in the 100-meter free and 1:02.9 in the 100-meter breast.
"Our recruiting fortunes have exploded this year," Trembley added. "Barry joins an unbelievable class of freshmen. The future looks bright, indeed, for our swimming and diving program."
Murphy's signing adds to an impressive 2005 class already set in place. The talented group of incomers includes Peter Baer (San Juan Capistrano, Calif./Dana Hills HS), Stanley Czarnecki (Denver, Penn./Coacalico HS), James Dabney (Charlotte, N.C./Providence HS), Jeff Inman (Athens/McMinn County HS), Nolan Morrell (Bend, Ore.), Michael Russo (Norcross, Ga./Norcross HS), Zachary Samland (Omaha, Neb./Westside HS), Burkley Showe (Columbus, Ohio/Thomas Worthington HS), Jeffrey Sudbury (Redding, Conn./Joel Barlow HS), Andrew Thirlwell (New Castle, England/St. Thomas Moore HS) and Scott Wherry (Lawrenceville, Ga./Collins, HS).
Players Mentioned
