Lakers Sign Three More Men
Jesse Lattin (left in the picture above), Randy Vaughan (middle), and Val Trussov (right), have signed letters of intent to study and swim at Iowa Lakes Community College this fall. Lattin, Vaughan, and Trussov will solidify the Laker men as a strong contender at the NJCAA National Meet next season. They join previous signees Ben Hehr and Patrick Voller and the returning swimmers to more than double the men's team size from this year. Head Coach Todd Peters is excited about the addition of the three strong swimmers. "We now have the team size and speed to fill out all the individual events and relays. The men are really excited about what we can accomplish throughout the season and at the national meet."
Jesse Lattin is from Salisbury Heights, South Australia, and he focuses on backstroke, butterfly and freestyle. Jesse is an experienced open water swimmer and has a long list of long course swimming accomplishments. Coach Peters has obvious excitement about Lattin's potential, "Jesse will benefit greatly by working on turns and underwater kicking. He has great straight swimming abilities and he will just need to adapt to creating speed off the walls. Jesse will also continue to grow and gain strength in the weight room. I'm already predicting Jesse will be the most improved swimmer on our team this coming season. I'm excited to help him develop his skills and talent."
Randy Vaughan is from Forest City, Iowa, and he swam for Mason City along with fellow incoming Laker freshman, Ben Hehr. Randy is versatile with the ability to swim freestyle events from 50-500 yards, backstroke and also 200 and 400 IM. Coach Peters is focused on Vaughan's versatility, "Randy has talent in all strokes and getting the opportunity to train and focus more on the IM events will allow him to excel greatly at the college level. He will also be key to our relays and he has the ability to fill multiple spots on the medley relays."
Val Trussov is a native of Kazakhstan who has been living and attending high school in Iowa City for two years. Val has his sights set on following in his brother, Roman's footsteps, as a national level swimmer. Val has been learning from his brother and is poised to be the breakout freshman in the NJCAA this year. Coach Peters speaks especially highly of Trussov, "We are so fortunate to have Val swimming for us this fall. Val's high school teammates and coaches were so impressed with his leadership skills and work ethic during his junior year, they made him team captain for his senior year, a position he took very seriously. One of the first things Val told me was how much he enjoyed setting an example for and making an impact on the younger team members. He considered being a captain an unexpected and tremendous honor and it carried more importance to him than his times. Val's rapid swimming development since he arrived in America is notable and he can swim just about any event. Val is the final piece to our relay puzzle with his speed in both breaststroke and butterfly."