Swimming wins WKU’s first C-USA title

Elliott Pratt

The WKU mens’ swimming and diving team is bringing a Conference USA championship to the Hill for the first time.

The Toppers dominated the C-USA Men’s Swimming and Diving Invitational with 1,225 points, while East Carolina followed in second for the meet with 1,038 points.

Coach Bruce Marchionda was named Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year for the second year in a row.

“Anytime you get recognized by your peers it’s very special,” Marchionda said. “We have a great coaching staff and the credit goes out to the entire staff, not me. We work well together and it’s the hard work of the entire staff that put us in a position to be able to win.”

Junior Fabian Schwingenschlogl earned the Swimmer of the Meet honor after tallying a team-high three individual wins and three relay victories, sealing his place in the NCAA Championships.

“We were hoping that was going to be the case – for him to put up the numbers he did, especially in the 100 breast stroke,” Marchionda said. “It’s going to put him in the top 10 in the country. That’s what we were hoping for and he really did step up and show us what he can do.”

Schwingenschlogl set a C-USA meet in the 200 breast, clocking in at 1:54.33, setting a new school record.

In the 200 breast, T.J. Bland finished third with a time of 1:58.05 and Connor Dwyer finished in a close fourth place at 2:00.75.

In diving, sophomore Giorgi Meyer placed third with 260.30 points and freshman Amy Crayne placed fifth with 200.70 points.

Nadine Laemmler and Allie Duff took the top two places in the 100 back, with both posting NCAA B times – Laemmler clocking in at 53.68 and Duffer finishing in 54.89.

Junior Claire Conlon set a school record in the 100 breast (1:00.83), good for second place and a NCAA B-cut time.

The Men’s NCAA Championships are Mar. 27 in Austin, Texas.

“We’re extremely excited and proud of what we were able to accomplish over the weekend,” Marchionda said. “We’re proud to represent the university to hold the first Conference USA title.”