Men’s Swimming makes history; tops DI Gardner-Webb, Barton at ECU Pirate Duels

Greeneville, N.C. —- For the first time in program history, Catawba men's swimming topped Division I Gardner-Webb, while also besting Barton to open their 2024 season at the ECU Pirate Duels.

Catawba edged out Gardner-Webb 143-114, while rolling to a 200-56 win over Barton.

HOW IT HAPPENED

1000 Yard Freestyle

- Freshman Jurek Larys impressed in his collegiate debut, defeating all swimmers in the 1000 Free with a time of 9:42.22

200 Yard Freestyle

- Fellow freshman Nazar Herashchenko also earned a top finish in his collegiate debut, finishing two seconds clear of the next competitor in the 200 Free, posting a 1:43.47

100 Yard Breaststroke

- Maks Minichowski finished nearly four seconds clear of the rest of the pack in the 100 Breast, posting a 55.82 mark

100 Yard Freestyle

- Minichowski followed up with another win over GWU and Barton swimmers with a 45.59 time in the 100 Free

200 Yard Breaststroke

- Reigning SAC champion Balazs Meszaros picked up where he left off in the 200 Breast, edging the top GWU simmer by less than .2 seconds with a 2:09.34 effort

500 Yard Freestyle

- Herashchenko was over 10 seconds clear in the 500 Free, earning a 4:38.59 time in the 500 Free

100 Yard Butterfly

- Freshman Lassi Niemi bested the top GWU swimmer with a 50.48 mark in the 100 Fly

200 Yard IM

- Meszaros earned another top finish in the 200 IM, finishing three seconds clear with a time of 1:56.34

400 Yard Freestyle Relay

- Catawba's relay team of Minichowski, Cameron Watson, Niemi and Ryan Case finished the event with a bang, besting Gardner-Webb with a 3:07.53 time

UP NEXT

- Catawba returns to action on Friday, Oct. 18, hosting Division I Queens at Johnson Pool