MOSCOW, Idaho – First-year Vandal head swimming and diving coach Mark Sowa and his new staff made its official debut on the deck Monday, as the University of Idaho women's swimming and diving team hosted its first practice of the year.

“If I had to spend more time in the office, I would go crazy,” Sowa said after putting the team through a technique-oriented workout Monday afternoon. “This is what we love to do, and this is why we're here. The happiest part of our day is when we're on the deck working with these athletes.”

Sowa, along with assistant coach Ashley Jahn and diving coach Chelsea Oates, got his first chance to work with the Vandal women in the pool on Monday, and said that he felt a positive vibe right from the beginning with the young team.

“First of all, the girls have a tremendous work ethic,” Sowa said. “We brought in some great kids who like to work hard, and that's part of the reason they're here to begin with, because this is a tremendous university. I can also tell right away that they're good character kids, so that's a very good combination.

“We're a lot better than we look on paper, that's for sure.”

Sowa comes to Idaho after a very successful three-year stint at Wagner University during which time he led the school to three-straight top-three finishes in the Northeast Conference, and his swimmers set 23 school records, two NEC records and earned 12 all-NEC honors and the school's first NEC Swimmer of the Year award.

Jahn is a 2003 graduate of the Air Force Academy who was the recruiting coordinator at UNLV last season and a graduate assistant for three years from 2008-10 at Tennessee. She was a varsity competitor in swimming and water polo at Air Force, and served as a Medical Service Corps Officer from 2003-08 after graduation.

Oates graduated from Oakland University in 2011. At Oakland, she was a four-time NCAA zone qualifier in both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events. She was honored as a 2010 Summit League Commissioner's List of Academic Excellence and was a 2010 Summit League Distinguished Scholar. She was previously the recruiting coordinator at Ohio Northern University.

“This is going to be a fun ride,” Sowa said. “We're going to be here for a while and we're going to make this program great. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a footstep, and we started that today.”