Led by captain John Quinn who, according to University of Maine coach Skip Nitardy, swam championship season times in the opening dual meet of the 2008-09 season, UMaine dumped Bryant College in a Sunday meet.

“John swam great,” said Nitardy, who enthusiastically noted Quinn’s 1 minute, 49 seconds in the 200 freestyle and his 4:55 in the 500 free.

Nitardy also mentioned the racing of two freshmen, Drew Mackeil of Biddeford and Cory Stogner from Colorado. Mackeil impressed his coach with his butterfly race as did Stogner in breaststroke, indicators that UMaine will challenge opponents this year in the stroke events as well as the freestyle events, where Maine has experienced racers returning.

Saturday, the Black Bears host Stony Brook.

“If the guys swim well, we want to challenge them,” Nitardy said.

Meanwhile, the Maine women caught a fast University of Rhode Island field in the 50 free and were swept in the two-length race.

“There were some spots where they were stronger than we expected,” Nitardy said.

As a result Maine, despite some “great swims in several events,” according to Nitardy, lost to URI in a close meet Sunday. The Bears easily defeated Bryant.

Meg McLean’s 1:10.2 in the 100 breaststroke and her 2:30.6 in the 200 breaststroke captured gold against URI and Bryant. Those performances, in addition to Mimi Chovanc’s 500 free (5:11.8) and Kristen Fenton’s 200 individual medley (2:16.4), 200 free (1:58.9) and 200 breaststroke (2:33), highlighted an effort where “the girls swam great,” added the second-year Maine coach.

Nitardy admitted he and assistant coach Suzie Lizzotte, on Sunday’s bus ride to Orono from URI, projected lineup adjustments for Saturday’s meet against the Stony Brook Seawolves.

“We can’t take them lightly. We are going to move people around and feel out what we have in several events,” he said.

Stony Brook’s Darcy Heuser, voted America East Swimmer of the Week after clocking a 1:53 200 free, a 5:05 500 free and a 10:38 1000 free last week, expects to challenge the fastest of the Black Bear racers regardless of the event.

Top coaches nominated

United States Swimming has announced nominations for the Golden Goggle Coach of the Year Award. The award will be presented Nov. 17 in New York.

Nominations include Bob Bowman, coach of Michael Phelps and North Baltimore Aquatic, who placed four swimmers on the 2008 Olympic team; Terri McKeever, coach at the University of California and coach of Natalie Coughlin, winner of six medals in the Olympics; Eddie Reese of the University of Texas, who placed eight Longhorns on the Olympic squad; Greg Troy of the University of Florida and Dave Salo from the University of Southern California, both of whom trained swimmers who raced in the Olympics for the U.S.

In addition, U.S. Swimming also will recognize male and female athletes of the year and will announce winners of the Perseverance Award, the Breakout Performance of the Year and the Relay Performance of the Year.

Lane Lines

. Brewer’s Kallie Pottle, a senior at Springfield College, claimed two second-place finishes in the Pride’s loss to Central Connecticut Saturday. The captain finished second at 1:03.2 in the 100 back and 2:14.1 in the 200 backstroke. Pottle also holds a spot on the Springfield record board as a member of the school’s fastest 400 medley relay, 3:59.1.

. Iris Meehan of Bar Harbor, a junior at Wheaton (Mass.) College, finished first in the 200 back in her team’s Saturday win over Roger Williams. Meehan holds the school record in the 100 back (1:00.6) and the 200 back (2:12).

. Texas A&M’s Kevin Wright, who coached diving at Bangor High School, coached the Aggie male divers to a 1-2-3 finish in the 3-meter competition and a 1-2 finish in the 1-meter diving against 18th-ranked Penn State recently. The Nittany Lions defeated the Aggie men in the opening dual meet of the season for Texas A&M.

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