Swimming and diving head coach Matt Gianiodis is trying to bring the program out of the Big Ten cellar.

He made big steps toward doing so this past week as he signed 11 recruits, six men and five women, to join the Spartans next season.

The men's recruits include Sho Koba, Jon LaRocque, Garret Ruhland, Joe Schmitt, Gabe Strickler and Ivan Zalessov.

The new women will be Jenny Korn, Emma Schaefer, Erinn Wertz, Laura DeFord and Nicki Golen.

"We are looking for kids to come in here and be real leaders," Gianiodis said. "All of the kids we have recruited are team captains from high school and good students, so we are excited about that."

At the end of this year, the men will be losing seven swimmers and the women will be losing eight. As these athletes graduate, Gianiodis said they take their experience and leadership with them.

He said the Big Ten is a tough conference and he does expect some of the recruits to come to MSU and have an immediate impact.

"On the men's side, we have four kids that should be able to come in and do a nice job and for the women we have three that should be solid contributors," Gianiodis said. "Our hope is that half of our recruits come in and make an impact their first year."

He said the biggest problem the new swimmers face is having to compete at such a high level daily in the Big Ten. He said it often takes up to a year for new swimmers to realize how good their opponents are.

"We don't have a lot of kids that have experience at the national level," he said.

Even though these swimmers aren't on campus yet, Gianiodis said there are a few special ones he thinks will have promising careers at MSU.

Koba, Gianiodis said, will contribute to freestyle and will also be a help in team relays.

"Koba is a talented kid and works really hard," Gianiodis said. "As a junior in high school he was one of the top five kids in the country in his event."

On the women's team, Gianiodis said he notices something special in Jenny Korn.

"She is a former state champion in high school and from a Michigan State family," he said.

Every year Gianiodis tries to recruit the best athletes and said that unlike usual, their hype is not the best indicator of their ability. Instead, he looks at the programs the athletes turn down to attend MSU.

"These kids that we signed were turning down Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan (to come here)," Gianiodis said.