Records Fall on Day One of Horizon League Swimming & Diving Championships

Horizon League Swimming & Diving Championships: Day 1 Results, Scores 

ROCHESTER, Mich. – Just five finals events were held on day one of the Horizon League Swimming and Diving Championships, but in that span five records fell at the Oakland University Aquatics Center - four relay and one individual mark.

In the shortest finals session of the meet program, Oakland leads on both the men’s and women’s side. The Golden Grizzlies sit eight points ahead of Milwaukee and 10 afield of Wright State on the women’s end, while they own a 31-point advantage on UIC in the men’s competition.

It was the 200 medley relay that got the meet off to a blistering start, as both the Wright State women and Cleveland State men set new League and Championship records.

Sofia Aledo Carmona (back), Kayla Fearrin (breast), Emily Hayhow (fly) and Samantha Miller (free) collaborated on an effort that saw them touch the wall in 1:39.96, breaking the previous League mark of 1:40.28 held by Milwaukee in 2014.

The Cleveland State and Oakland men’s teams then dueled in lanes four and five, trading the lead at both the first and second exchanges. Szymon Golczyk’s butterfly restored Cleveland State’s advantage to .60 at the last exchange, and Declan McLaughlin held off a furious rally from Oakland’s Jeremiah Morren, out-touching him, 1:26.05 to 1:26.10.

Both times hit the NCAA B qualifying standard of 1:26.13; both would also have broken the previous Horizon League championship record of 1:27.32, set by Oakland just last year.

The records continued to fall in the 800 freestyle relays, as Oakland posted a blistering 7:17.13 on the women’s side to lower the League, Championship and Pool record by over four seconds each. Nikki Flynn started for the Golden Grizzlies with Alysse Fischer and Arynn de Leeuw carrying legs until Patricia Aschan anchored the relay to the record time. Flynn's opening 200 free was in 1:47.77, snapping the League and Championship mark of 1:48.05 previously set by Cleveland State's Carys Behn in 2011.

Not to be outdone, the Golden Grizzlies’ men also set a League and Championship record in the 800 free relay, dropping the record to 6:29.10. Tuomas Kiviluoma, Jacob Pearson and Andrew Binder swam the first three legs before Devon Nowicki posted a killer anchor leg of 1:35.83 to set the record.

In the diving well, Oakland sophomore Stirling Fordham led from start to finish in collecting the men’s 3-meter title with a score of 331.65.

Prelims will resume at 10 a.m. ET, with day two finals scheduled to begin from the Oakland Aquatics Center at 5:30 p.m. ET. Both sessions will be carried live on ESPN3.

Women’s Standings (through Day 1):
1. Oakland – 74 points
2. Milwaukee -66
3. Wright State – 64
t4. Youngstown State – 56
t4. Green Bay – 56
t4. UIC – 56
t4. Cleveland State – 56
8. Valparaiso 22

Men’s Standings (through Day 1):
1. Oakland – 119 points
2. UIC – 88
3. Wright State – 87
4. Cleveland State – 86
5. Green Bay – 83
6. Valparaiso – 50
7. Milwaukee – 46