2020 NAIA Men’s Swimming & Diving National Championship
- Dates: March 4-7, 2020
- Times: Prelims 9 AM; Finals 5 PM
- Location: Allan Jones Aquatic Center – Knoxville, Tennessee (Central Time Zone)
- Defending Champions: Keiser University (2x) (results)
- Psych Sheet
- Live Results: Available here
- Live Video: Available here
- Championship Central
Day Four
Men’s 1650 Yard Freestyle – Fastest Heat, Timed Final
- Meet Record: 15:18.39 Joel Thatcher, SCAD 3/4/2017
Podium:
- Joel Thatcher, SCAD 15:29.63
- Spence Clark, SCAD 15:51.56
- Pol Roch, Keiser 15:52.91
SCAD sophomore Joel Thatcher, who set the meet record as a freshman in 2017, won the 2020 edition of the same race with 15:29.63. Swimming in finals with the eight fastest seeds, Thatcher was all alone, swimming at his own pace. Teammate Spence Clark, a junior, ended up finishing second from out in lane 2 with a drop of 23.8 seconds to notch his first-ever sub-16 in 15:51.56. Olivet Nazarene senior Xavier Bordes Adell, who was 3rd, 3rd, and 2nd in 2019, 2018 and 2017, came in third in the heat but fourth overall with 15:55.41.
There were three swimmers from the morning heats who landed in the top 8: Keiser sophomore and last year’s runner-up Pol Roch (15:52.91 for 3rd), SCAD senior Josh Smilie (15:59.77 for 6th with his first time under 16 minutes), and junior DJ Nowacki (8th with a lifetime best of 16:03.53). Smilie and Nowacki finished 6th and 13th last year, while teammate Clark was 5th.
The rest of the top 8 was made up of West Virginia Tech senior Manuel Laguna Gomez (15:56.35) and Cumberlands sophomore John Morgan McDonald (16:01.24).
Men’s 200 Yard Backstroke – Final
- Meet Record: 1:45.61 Ryan Searles, SCAD 2012
Podium:
- Jan Suchan, Keiser 1:46.17
- Marti Ranea, Keiser 1:48.36
- Gio Zachar, SCAD 1:49.75
Keiser scored a 1-2 punch from junior Jan Suchan, the defending champion, and freshman Marti Ranea. Suchan was a full second faster than he’d been last year with 1:46.17, while Ranea swam a season-best 1:48.36. SCAD junior Gio Zachar, 2018 champion and 2019 bronze medalist, came in third with 1:49.75. Suchan controlled the race from the outset, splitting 52.1/54.0. Zachar was 3/10 behind Ranea at the halfway mark and pulled even at the 150 wall but he fell off pace, coming home in 29.0 to Ranea’s 27.6.
Asbury freshman Haden Hebenstreit notched a 1:51.00 to place 4th ahead of Keiser sophomore Garrett Green (1:51.32), Midland freshman Michael Richmond (1:52.12), Keiser sophomore Alex Torrents (1:53.27), and Loyola New Orleans senior John Tarpey (1:53.85).
Men’s 100 Yard Freestyle – Final
- Meet Record: 42.53 Daniel Z Ramirez, Oklahoma Baptist 3/8/2014
Podium:
- Marcel Nagy, Keiser 44.75
- Calvin Coetzee, Lindsey Wilson 44.86
- Zoltan Monori, SCAD 45.03
Keiser senior Marcel Nagy won his third consecutive 100 free title to lock down the Swimmer of the Year Award. It was his third win of the meet after the 50 free on Thursday and the 100 fly on Friday. It was a tight race from wire to wire with 1st and 8th places separated by only 1 second at the finish. Nagy and runner-up Calvin Coetzee of Lindsey Wilson flipped in the middle of the pack at the 50 wall, in 4th and 5th place with 21.54 and 21.56, respectively. SCAD junior Zoltan Monori, 3rd last year and 6th as a freshman in 2018, was a tick ahead of them at 21.24 in third place. The race was determined over the second 50, when Nagy outsplit Coetzee 23.21 to 23.30 to get the win. Monori came home in 23.79, narrowly touching out Keiser junior Jared Ingram (45.15) and SCAD sophomore Irvin Hoost (45.16).
St. Andrews junior Quentin Cooper (45.29) nearly ran Ingram down but finished 6th. Loyola junior Jack Jackson edged Midland sophomore Scott Cain, 45.76 to 45.78, for 7th.
Men’s 200 Yard Breaststroke – Final
- Meet Record: 1:56.96 Fernando Morillas, Oklahoma Baptist 3/7/2015
Podium:
- Tyler Penney, Midland 1:59.10
- Levente Sardi, Keiser 1:59.28
- Lukas Macek, Keiser 2:00.45
Midland junior Tyler Penney pulled off the upset of the night with a 1:59.10 victory in the 200 breast. After a 6th-place finish in 2019, he rose to the top of the podium thanks to the best back half in the field. Penney was 5th at the 50 and 4th at the 100. He roared to the front of the pack over the next 100 yards. At the 150 wall he trailed only Keiser freshman Levente Sardi but he came home 4/10 faster over the final 50 yards to get the win, 1:59.10 to 1:59.28. Keiser senior Lucas Macek, who had won this race in each of the previous three years, finished third with 2:00.45.
The rest of the A final was composed of Paulo Dias Ignacio Jr from West Virginia Tech (2:00.61), Simpson’s Tom Higdon (2:01.01), Keiser freshman Eduardo Ojeda (2:04.87), SCAD freshman Kenny Chism (2:05.21), and Kevin Krupitzer of St Ambrose (2:06.56).
Men’s 200 Yard Butterfly – Final
- Meet Record: 1:45.27 Iran Cavalcante- Almeida, Olivet Nazarene 3/3/2018
Podium:
- Miles Kredich, SCAD 1:49.29
- Alex Wu, Asbury 1:49.33
- George Harsanyi, SCAD 1:49.69
In one of the most thrilling races of the meet, SCAD junior Miles Kredich edged the defending champion, sophomore Alex Wu of Asbury, 1:49.29 to 1:49.33, to win the 200 fly title in his second individual event of the night. Kredich also competed in the 100 free where he won the B final with 45.82. Just a tick behind Kredich and Wu was SCAD junior George Harsanyi. After finishing 5th in this event in each of the last two years, Harsanyi cracked the 1:50 barrier for the first time and placed third with 1:49.69. Kredich and Harsanyi had put up identical 1:50.29s in prelims to lead the field.
It was a tight race from start to finish, as five swimmers traded leads throughout the first 150 yards. Keiser freshman Niklas Nyblom was the only sub-52 at the 100 turn with 51.76. Harsanyi and Kredich turned at 52.16 and 52.17, respectively. Harsanyi scorched the third 50 and led with 1:20.00 heading into the final two laps. He couldn’t hang onto the pace, though and with 28.5s from both Kredich and Wu, he fell to third place. Kredich came home .05 faster than Wu, earning the gold medal with .04 to spare.
Andrew Clifford from College of Idaho, 8th a year ago, led the next round of finishers with 1:49.73. Union junior Lucas Mourao was 5th with 1:52.00, while Nyblom finished 6th in 1:52.36. SCAD sophomore Maik Rieffenstahl edged Keiser junior Csaba Vekony, 1:53.54 to 1:53.78, for 7th.
Men’s 1 Meter Diving – Final
- Meet Record: 587.35 Grant Brehaut, Simon Fraser 2004
Podium:
- Nic Carrier, College of Idaho 194.65
Nic Carrier scored 194.65 points in the final to score 20 for the College of Idaho.
Men’s 400 Yard Freestyle Relay – Final
- Meet Record: 2:56.93 Oklahoma Baptist University, OBU (J Goyetche, M Sambolin, J Sossa, D Ramirez) 3/7/2015
Podium:
- Keiser 2:59.44
- SCAD 3:00.58
- Lindsey Wilson 3:03.50
The meet came to an exciting end as Keiser and SCAD battled for the final relay title. SCAD junior Zoltan Monori led off in 45.18, giving half a body length lead to classmate Gio Zachar on the first exchange. Keiser sophomore Pol Roch (45.75) handed over to junior Jared Ingram. Ingram outsplit Zachar 44.46 to 46.01 and Keiser led SCAD 1:30.21 to 1:31.19 at the halfway mark. Senior Lukas Macek (45.51) went head to head with SCAD sophomore Irvin Hoost (45.06) who cut Keiser’s lead in half. Marcel Nagy cranked out a 43.72 to Joel Thatcher’s 44.33 and the Seahawks got the win, 2:59.44 to 3:00.58.
Lindsey Wilson (freshmen James de Goede, Tyler King and Calvin Coetzee and sophomore Ron Wolfart) took third in 3:03.50.
Men’s Team Scores – Day 4
- Keiser University 743
- SCAD Savannah 681
- Lindsey Wilson College 267
- Midland University 255
- The College of Idaho 237
- Loyola University New Orleans 186
- University of the Cumberlands 162
- Union College 160
- Ambrose University 159
- Asbury University 123
- West Virginia University Tech 111
- Olivet Nazarene University 109
- Life University 107
- Andrews University 73
- Simpson University 71
- Thomas University 33
- Morningside College 32
- Campbellsville University 30
- Lincoln College / Milligan College (tie) 28
- –
- Point University 4
- Bethel University (TN) 1
