The Summit League dynasty continues for the University of Denver Swim and Dive Team. 

The team traveled to Minneapolis, Minn. this past weekend to take part in the end-of-year meet that they have dominated since joining the conference in 2013. The women’s squad earned their 11th straight title while the men earned their 10th title over that same time span. 

DU women’s swimmers and divers dominated their side of the competition and defeated second-place South Dakota by 260.5 points. The men’s side kept it a bit closer and Denver beat out second-place Lindenwood by 48 points. 

The Crimson and Gold nearly swept the women’s awards after the competition ended and brought home five individual awards while the men captured two. 

Head Diving Coach Aaron D’Addario might have submitted his legacy as one of the best coaches to ever grace the conference after he was awarded both the women’s and men’s Diving Coach of the Year awards. This is the third straight season he has swept the awards. 

Head Swimming Coach Alicia Hicken-Franklin also picked up her third straight Swimming Coach of the Year award since joining the team in 2019. 

The Women’s Swimmer of the Championship award was captured by junior Jessica Maeda. Individually, Maeda won three races, the 200-yard individual medley, the 100-yard breast and the 200-yard breast. She was also a part of the victorious 200-yard medley relay and 800-yard freestyle relay races. This is the first individual award for Maeda since winning the Newcomer of the Year award in 2022. 

Freshman Sabrina Rachjaibun made her mark in the meet and was awarded the Newcomer of the Championship. Rachjaibun’s only event victory was part of the 800-yard freestyle relay but she picked up podium finishes in every event she participated. She finished second in the 500-yard freestyle event and the women’s 200-yard fly event and finished third in the 400-yard individual medley. She was beat out by a mere 0.06 seconds in the fly event by fellow teammate, Sarah Turchanik. 

On the diving side, senior Olivia Gordon picked up her second career Diver of the Championship award. Gordon won the 1-meter dive event and recorded an NCAA standard score in the process. Gordon placed second in the 3-meter dive event despite recording an NCAA zone cut score. She was beaten by sophomore Kaitlin Calvery who recorded the seventh-best score in program history in the event. 

Perhaps the MVP on the men’s side, junior Zyad Morsy was awarded the Men’s Diver of the Championship. Morsy swept the slate, winning both the 1-meter and 3-meter events and recording NCAA b-standard scores in the process. 

One program record fell during the second day of action. Junior Marco Nosack broke his own record in the men’s 200-yard individual medley race by 0.38 seconds. Somehow, this was not enough to win the race, and Matheo Mateos-Mongelos of Lindenwood University bested Nosack by 0.23 seconds. 

Out of the 42 events in the competition, Denver won a grand total of 23. DU also placed a finisher on the podium in every event but three. 

Denver’s divers who recorded zone cuts this season will move on to compete in the NCAA Zone E qualifying competition to earn a spot at the NCAA Championships. The qualifying meet, which will be held on March 11-13, is in Flagstaff, Ariz. 

For the swimmers who did not record NCAA standard times and will not be invited to the NCAA Championships, they will participate in the NIC Championships in Ocala, Fla. Those swimmers will compete on March 14-17. 

The NCAA invites only 235 men and 281 women to compete at the NCAA Championships. If a swimmer records an A-standard time, which reflects that they are the fastest of the fastest, they automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships. If the swimmer records a B-standard time, they are not guaranteed a spot in the NCAA Championships and are offered to compete in other competitions such as the NIC Championships. 

The NCAA women’s Swim and Dive Championships will be held on March 20-23 in Athens, Ga. while the men’s will be held on March 27-30 in Indianapolis, Ind.