Both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams won their fifth-straight Summit League Swimming and Diving Championships. For the second straight year, Denver won every swimming event at the championships, extending their current streak to 78 consecutive event wins, going back to the final day of the 2016 Championships.
On the first day of the Summit League Championships, Feb. 14, the women’s swimming and diving program set new school and Summit League Championship records in the 200 medley and 800 free relay to take an early lead in the championships. Senior Morgan McCormick (Golden, Colo.), junior Bailey Andison (Smiths Falls, Ontario), redshirt-junior Heidi Bradley (Victoria, B.C.) and senior Morgan Wice-Roslin (Colorado Springs, Colo.) combined for a new record of 1:37.19 in the 200 medley relay. They beat Denver’s previous record, set at the 2015 Summit League Championships, by 0.24 seconds. The women also broke the school record in the 800 relay by 0.12 seconds. Most impressively, their time of 7:10.32 was 1.35 seconds faster than the Summit League Championship record. Freshman Aysia Leckie (Georgetown, Ontario), Andison, junior Annelyse Tullier (Dallas, Texas) and senior Maddie Myers (Arvada, Colo.) all contributed to the record breaking time.
The men won in their 200 medley, touching in 1:26.26. The team was comprised of senior Anton Loncar (Hillsboro, Ore.), freshman Cy Jager (Moscow, Idaho), sophomore Peter Webster (Odense, Denmark) and sophomore Sid Faber (Portland, Ore.). In the 800 free relay, redshirt-freshman Stephen Calkins (Calgary, Alberta), sophomore Colin Gilbert (Kamloops, B.C.), sophomore Hugo Sykes (Weston, Conn.) and senior Ray Bornman (Mackay, Queensland) combined for first, with a time of 6:24.63.
Closing out the night, Denver took a chance at a time trial in the 200 medley relay. Sophomore Neil Wachtler (Waco, Texas), Jager, Webster and Farber combined for a Summit League Championship record time of 1:25.92.
On day two, sophomore diver Sammy Walker (Los Gatos, Calif.) scored a 251.95 in the one-meter dive finals to become the first women’s diver to win a Summit League Championship for Denver, since Denver joined the league five seasons ago. The women’s 200 free relay made another new school record for the Pioneers, as the men’s and women’s swim and dive programs extended their lead on the second day of competition.
The women’s 200 free relay team, consisting of Wice-Roslin, junior Lauren Moden (Parker, Colo.), McCormick and Leckie, finished in 1:29.35, beating the previous record by over a second. Following them, the Denver’s men 200 free relay finished first, with freshman Cameron Auchinachie (Binghamton, N.Y.), Farber, Calkins and Loncar finishing in 1:18.10.
The individual event began on day two, with Denver sweeping the podium in the men’s and women’s 500 meter free. For the women, Myers touched first in 4:45.38, Tullier was second in 4:47.05, and sophomore Andi Johnston (Fort Colins, Colo.) was third in 4:49.52. In the men’s race, Gilbert was first in 4:17.72, senior Alex Walton (Boulder, Colo.) was second in 4:24.68, sophomore Jesse Haraden (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) was third in 4:30.03 and junior Kyle Ewoldt (Gilbert, Ariz.) was fourth by 0.06 seconds.
Denver’s women swim swept the top four spots in the 100 fly, with sophomore Josie Valette (Boulder, Colo.) touching first (53.20), McCormick placing second (53.33), Bradley third in 53.40 and sophomore Kylie Cronin (Marblehead, Mass.) touching fourth in 53.49. The women continued their dominance in the 200 IM with another podium sweep. Andison won the race by more than four seconds with a time of 1:58.09. Freshman Emily Vandenberg (Ajax, Ontario) was second with a time of 2:02.18, and freshman Charlotte Simon (Saint Remy, France) was third in 2:04.18. The final event for the women was the 50 free, where Wice Roslin won in 22.55, followed by Moden in second with 22.79.
On the men’s side, Calkins won the men’s 100 fly with a time of 47.75, followed closely behind by Webster in 47.98. The men swept the top four spots of the 200 IM, with Wachtler touching first in 1:48.15, followed by freshman Adriel Sanes (Rosharon, Texas) in 1:48.37, freshman Anthony Nosack (Beaverton, Ore.) was third in 1:49.30 and freshman Trent Panzera (Gauteng, South Africa) finished fourth in 1:50.03. The men continued their sweep when they took four of the top spots in the men’s 50 free. Auchinachie touched first in 19.15, followed by Farber (19.83), Loncar (20.49) and Sykes (20.53).
The Pioneers started their third day by setting another Summit League Championship record in the men’s 400 medley, as well as combining to win each of the last 64 swimming events at the Summit League Championships since 2016. Loncar, Jager, Calkins and Auchinachie combined for a time of 3:09.36 in the 400 medley relay, a new Summit League Championship record. Notable wins from the third day include Myers in the 400 IM, Jager in the men’s 100 breast and sweeps in the men’s 400 IM, women’s 200 free relay, men’s 200 free, women’s 100 breast, men’s 100 back and women’s 100 back.
The meet concluded on Feb. 17, where Denver won every swimming event at the Summit League championships for the second straight year. Denver also set several new school records in a time trial of the 200 medley relay (Wachtler, Jager, Calkins and Farber in 1.25.73), men’s 200 breast (Sanes in 1:56.24), women’s 200 fly (sophomore Josie Valette (Boulder, Colo.) in 1:57.91). Additionally, the men’s swim team set six new Summit League Championship records, breaking their own records in the process, in the 100 IM (Jager 49.78), 200 Back (Loncar 1:41.15), 100 Free (Farber 42.78) and 200 Breast (Sanes 1:56.24).
Denver competes next in the 2018 American Short Course Championships beginning on March 1. Following that, swimmers will compete in the CSCAA National Invitational (March 8-10), NCAA Women’s Championship (March 14-17) and NCAA Men’s Championships (March 21-24).
