Union men’s swimming and diving places second at AAC Championships
Kingsport, Tenn. – The Union College men's swimming and diving team placed second in the AAC championships this week. They recorded one first-place finish along with 20 top-five finishes.
Day One:
The Bulldogs placed second overall with a total score of 164. They began by placing second in the 200-yard medley relay with a final time of 1:33.95
Zach Nepogoda recorded a third-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle. He finished in a personal best time of 4:39.55, which is the 12th-best time in the NAIA this season.
Gabi Icobescu and Cezary Leimann both competed in the 50-yard freestyle. Icobescu secured third place with a time of 21.58. Leimann was right behind in fourth place with a time of 21.64. Both achieved NAIA qualifying times in the process.
Icobescu, Nepogoda, Malik Biad, and David Muniz Espin swam in the 800-yard freestyle relay. They recorded a season-best time of 7:12.21 to secure second place.
Day Two:
The Bulldogs placed second overall with a total score of 401. Icobescu had the highest finish for the Bulldogs as he placed first in the 200-yard freestyle. He recorded a time of 1:41.84 to earn an NAIA B-Cut.
Icobescu, Leimann, Muniz Espin, and Jaedon Lynch placed second in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a final time of 1:26.30.
Biad secured a third-place finish in the 400-yard IM with a time of 4:14.32. This marked his first NAIA B-Cut of the season.
Dmitrii Bulakh and Lynch swam in the 100-yard breaststroke. Bulakh recorded a time of 57.41 to secure third place. Lynch followed by placing fourth with a time of 58.54. Both of those times rank top-25 in the NAIA this season.
Zsombi Sipaki swam in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 52.13 to finish in third place. Sipaki, Icobescu, Bulakh, and Leimann secured second place in the 400-yard medley relay with a final time of 3:27:05.
Day Three:
Nepogoda secured third place in the 1650-yard freestyle with a personal season-best and NAIA qualifying time of 16:36.79. His time is the 19th-best in the NAIA this season.
In the 200-yard backstroke, Sipaki recorded a time of 1:57.37 to secure him fourth place and his first B-Cut in the event.
Icobescu and Leimann competed in the 100-yard freestyle. Icobescu placed third with a time of 46.69, while Leimann placed fifth recording a time of 48.13. Both times are B-Cuts.
Bulakh, Lynch, and Luke Colebank swam in the 200-yard breaststroke. Bulakh recorded a time of 2:09.03 (B-Cut), securing him second place. Lynch placed fourth, with a time of 2:10.27 (B-Cut). Colebank placed fifth with a time of 2:17.45.
In the 200-yard butterfly, Baid secured a fifth-place finish with a season-best time of 1:56.68. This was his second NAIA B-Cut for the meet.
Lynch, Espin, Leiman, and Icobescu swam in the 400-yard freestyle relay. They secured a second-place finish by recording a time of 3:10.67.
The Bulldogs finished the meet second overall with a total score of 590. Up next for Union is the NAIA National Championships on Wednesday, March 6.