With the swimming and diving season ready to kick off Monday, three of Butler County's teams will have new coaches.

At Butler, Dacia Como replaces Jeff Armstrong, who led the Golden Tornado for three seasons.

Knoch's Rick Hassler takes over for Stephanie Karwoski, who also coached for three seasons, while Freeport's Margie Erickson assumes the reins from Gregg McQueen.

Como helped coach the Tornado divers about a decade ago and has coached the school's synchronized swimming squad the past nine years.

Hassler, on the other hand, is new to the Knights program, having spent the past six years as an assistant at Hampton.

One thing they have in common: both have a huge number of swimmers to work with in their inaugural seasons.

"I did a lot of recruiting and we have some wonderful new talent," said Como, who has 54 swimmers and divers on the team. "We've got more girls than guys, but enough guys to fill (events)."

Knoch has 31 boys and girls combined, which gives Hassler a lot to work with even though he didn't't get the job until last month.

"I didn't know what I was walking in on," said Hassler. "I wasn't able to come out and recruit, but we can fill a whole lineup, which is a big help."

Grove City coach Karen Wendelschaefer could not be reached for comment.

The following are previews for the Butler County teams:

<B>Coach:</B> Dacia Como, first year<B>2007-08 record:</B> Girls (3-8), Boys (1-10)<B>Key returners:</B> <B>Girls</B>-Seniors Megan Morando (freestyle, butterfly) and Brittany Kies (freestyle, utility); junior Renee Clouse (IM, freestyle). <B>Boys</B>-Seniors Jason Clouse (butterfly, IM) and Erik Bergh (distance); junior Heath Calhoun (diving); sophomore Alex Bauer (backstroke, freestyle)<B>Outlook:</B> The Tornado program boasts 54 competitors for its new coach, including 12 freshmen and 16 sophomores."We have some freshmen that have come up through the youth program. We have a strong sophomore group (of girls) that swam through the Seneca Valley program that are already going hard to qualify."

<B>Coach:</B> Margie Erickson, first year<B>2007-08 record:</B> Girls (5-9), Boys (4-10)<B>Key returners:</B> <B>Girls</B>-Seniors Katy Screen (sprints) and Brittany Korbeck (butterfly); junior Keil Erickson (butterfly, IM); sophomores Maddie Petras (freestyle), Jamie Boyle (freestyle) and Nikki Kocher (Backstroke). <B>Boys</B>-Sophomores Ryan Sweeny (distance), Josh Carion (sprints), Mike Matjasko (butterfly) and Alex Keener (IM)<B>Outlook:</B> The boys have only four swimmers and the girls have eight. Still, the talent is still there, as Keil Erickson, Sweeny and Carion all are WPIAL-caliber qualifiers."We lost our seniors (including Andrea McQueen and Gail Erickson), but we didn't gain any freshmen, boys or girls.," said Erickson ""It's going to be a rough year. We're down in numbers, but we want to keep our name out there."

<B>Coach:</B> Rick Hassler, first year<B>2007-08 record:</B> N/A<B>Key returners:</B> <B>Girls</B>-Seniors Rachel Tano (breaststroke, freestyle) and Hannah Zibert (breaststroke, 200 IM); junior Jill Vogus (200 IM, butterfly). <B>Boys</B>-None<B>Outlook:</B> With double-figure swimmers in both the boys (12) and girls (19) teams, the Knights are better prepared to give opponents a run for their money."You take your time with the young kids," said Hassler on his boys squad. "We'll work on some strokes and they'll be all right as long as they listen. We'll see what develops.""

<B>Coach:</B> Heidi Brandon, second year<B>2007-08 record:</B> Girls (11-2); Boys N/A<B>Key returners:</B> <B>Girls</B>-Seniors Rachel Szymkowiak (utility) and Courtney Shields (butterfly, medleys); junior Gabri Pierre (freestyle); sophomore Corinna Luschini (distance). <B>Boys</B>-Senior Phil Pacey (butterfly)<B>Outlook:</B> With almost two dozen swimmers out, Brandon has a lot of young swimmers who can learn from the first three swimmers mentioned, who had strong showings at the WPIAL and PIAAchampionship meets. Also look for freshmen Kelsey McDonough and Jack Muehlheuser to make solid contributions."We have 22 girls out, so we have some good depth," said Brandon. "Last year we had five girls go to states. Last year we had six boys. This year we have five boys ... but I'd like to see them take a strong relay team to the WPIALs and maybe go to states."

<B>Coach:</B> Tom Donati, 12th year<B>2007-08 record:</B> N/A<B>Key returners:</B> <B>Girls</B>-Juniors Julie Titley (freestyle), Holly Miller (freestyle, backstroke), Leah Patinski (breaststroke, butterfly) and Angie Panza (butterfly, backstroke); sophomore Abby Myers. <B>Boys</B>-Seniors Dan Gutmann (freestyle), Eric Pierce (butterfly) and Zac Fiscus (diving); junior Tyler Piedmont (freestyle); sophomores Justin Pritchard (backstroke) and Anthony Geyer (breaststroke)<B>Outlook:</B> It's hard to replace a pair of Penn State University recruits in Rose Snyder and Emily Wolfarth, as well as Diana Rocco (diving), who is at Division II Gannon, but the Raiders know they must reload."The quality is there, but it's definitely a rebuilding year for the girls," Donati said. "We'll get back to basics and we'll look for good things."We have 16 boys and that's the first time in a long time we've had that many. We're very, very young, but I'm excited."

<B>Coach:</B> Kirby Burns, sixth year<B>2007-08 record:</B> Girls (7-10), Boys (8-9)<B>Key returners:</B> <B>Girls</B>-Senior Hannah Parson (IM, breaststroke), juniors Katelyn Brozenic (distance, breaststroke) and Kristen Thompson (butterfly); sophomores Kate Kosiorek (backstroke, freestyle), Cory Kirk (distance), Chloe Pizor (distance, breaststroke), Sarah Downing (backstroke, butterfly) and Emma Knox (breaststroke). <B>Boys</B>-Seniors Jacob Johnston (freestyle), Andrew Opalewski (freestyle) and Chuck Davies (butterfly, transferred back); juniors Kyle Hawk (backstroke) and Caleb Sykora-Bodie (freestyle)<B>Outlook:</B> The boys lost school-record holder Nathan Eilenfeldt, but have Johnston, Opalewski, Hawk and Sykora-Bodie, who each had a part in setting school records in the three relays. Look for freshmen James Udishas (boys) and Kelsey Reott (girls) to give the teams some young talent."I'm hoping we'll be a little better. There are still a couple of strong teams in the division," said Burns on the boys team. "Most of the teams are up. I know my guys are stronger, so I don't think we'll miss a beat.As for the girls team, 'I'm hoping we can knock off a couple of the big four (teams)," said Burns. "Our girls are stronger because we have almost everyone back."