2023 MPSF Fan Guide: Transom Provides Massive Boost As Hawaii Aims To Reclaim Crown

2023 MPSF Swimming & Diving Championships

• Wednesday, February 15 – Saturday, February 18, 2023
• Human Performance Center, St. George, UT
  • Diving: Marguerite Aquatic Center, Mission Viejo, CA
• Defending Champions:
  • Women: UC San Diego (1x)
  • Men: BYU (2x)
• Live Results
• Live Video
• Championship Central
• Record Book

The UC San Diego women’s swim & dive team made history last season, winning the school’s first Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) conference title in any sport while also snapping Hawaii’s streak of five consecutive championships that dated back to 2017.

The Tritons joined the MPSF in the 2018-19 season, and then placed sixth in 2019, fifth in 2020, and then were among the programs to completely opt out of the 2021 season amidst the pandemic. They then returned with an epic win over Hawaii last season, edging out the Rainbow Wahine by just 12.5 points.

The balance of power on the men’s side has changed hands consistently over the last few years. BYU won three straight titles from 2014 to 2016, UC Santa Barbara went back-to-back in 2017 and 2018, and then Hawaii won repeat titles before BYU returned to the top of the heaps in 2021 and successfully defended last year.

This year figures to be an intriguing one, as not only are all of these teams coming in eyeing the 2023 titles, but we’ve also got Incarnate Word entering the fold, with their men’s team the reigning CSCAA champions.

• Participating Teams: BYU, UC Santa Barbara, Hawaii, Cal Poly, Pacific, UC Davis (women only), San Diego (women only), UCSD, CSU Bakersfield, Incarnate Word

EVENT SCHEDULE

Wednesday

• 200 medley relay
• 800 free relay
• Team diving event

Thursday

• 200 free relay
• 500 free
• 200 IM
• 50 free
• Men’s 1-meter diving
• Women’s 3-meter diving

Friday

• 100 fly
• 400 IM
• 200 free
• 100 breast
• 100 back
• 400 medley relay
• Women’s 1-meter diving
• Men’s 3-meter diving

Saturday

• 1650 free
• 200 back
• 100 free
• 200 breast
• 200 fly
• 400 free relay
• Women’s platform diving
• Men’s platform diving

SWIMMERS TO WATCH

WOMEN

Laticia-Leigh Transom, Graduate Senior – Hawaii: Coming over from USC in the offseason, Transom has been a superstar for Hawaii. While she’ll only be able to race three individual events at the championships, Transom owns the fastest time in the MPSF in five different events: 50 free (22.39), 100 free (48.28), 200 free (1:44.89), 100 back (52.31) and 100 fly (53.22). Given what we’ve seen her focus on in the past, the New Zealand native will likely race the freestyle events. Victories look like a forgone conclusion, but we should also keep an eye on the Hawaii record books, as Transom is within striking distance of all three records, which stand at 22.36, 47.94 and 1:44.73, respectively.

Brynn Sproul, Senior – BYU: Sproul was the lone swimmer to win three individual titles last season, having swept the 500 free, 100 back and 200 back. This season, Sproul leads the MPSF in the 200 back (1:56.59) and is second to Transom in the 100 back (53.78), so assuming Transom doesn’t take on that race individually, Sproul will be the favorite for a repeat backstroke sweep. She’s only raced the 500 free at one meet this season, doing so at the beginning of October, so it remains to be seen if she’ll race that event at the championships. She won last season in 4:48.81, and three women have been 4:49-something this season.

Katja Pavicevic, Senior – UC San Diego: Pavicevic played a key role UC San Diego’s historical team title last season, leading the squad with 57 individual points as she won the 200 breast and 200 IM and added a runner-up finish in the 100 breast. The Canadian native has once again been a force this year, leading the MPSF in the 100 breast (1:00.99) and 200 breast (2:11.15), both lifetime bests, and she also ranks second in the 200 IM. Her time from earlier this season is already under the MPSF Championship Record in the 200 breast (2:11.44), and she’s got a good shot at the 100 breast mark of 1:00.10 if she hits her taper.

MEN

Kyle Brill, Sophomore – UC Santa Barbara: Brill was a standout in his freshman campaign at UCSB, winning the 200 back and 200 IM and adding a runner-up finish in the 400 IM in his debut MPSF Championship meet. With the lone swimmer (BYU’s Tanner Nelson) who beat him at last year’s championships now graduated, Brill is the favorite to go for three-for-three individually. He leads the MPSF this season in all three events, having hit best times in the 200 back (1:43.11) and 200 IM (1:45.27) while nearing his PB in the 400 IM (3:46.74).

Javier Nicolas, Senior – BYU: Nicolas comes in as the man to beat in the 100 free and 100 fly, as he’s both the defending champion and the fastest swimmer in the conference this season. The Spanish native was the runner-up to Brill in the 200 IM last year, but he’s the top performer in the MPSF this season in the 50 free so could be changing his focus to that event in 2023. Nicolas hit lifetime bests in all three of his primary races at the Mizzou Invitational in November, clocking 19.79 in the 50 free, 43.26 in the 100 free and 46.40 in the 100 fly. Like Brill, Nicolas has a great chance to go undefeated individually after winning two of three events last season.

Brad Prolo, Senior – BYU: Prolo comes in eyeing a three-peat in the 200 fly, having broken the Championship Record in 2021 (1:44.16) and then repeating last season in 1:44.20. He’s hit a new level this year, as the BYU senior fired off a program record of 1:43.26 in the 200 fly at the Mizzou Invite in November, putting him a full 1.5 seconds clear of the next-fastest swimmer in the MPSF. Prolo also ranks third in the conference this season in the 100 breast (53.18) and fourth in the 200 IM (1:46.88), so he’ll be vying for top finishes in those events as well.

SHOWDOWN RACES

WOMEN

100 Breaststroke – The aforementioned Pavicevic leads the field, but the women’s 100 breast has been a tightly-bunched event in the MPSF this season, with six swimmers all within a second of one another. Following Pavicevic’s 1:00.99 is BYU’s Mackenzie Miller (1:01.06), Hawaii’s Kathryn Ivanov (1:01.58) and CSU Bakersfield’s Chelaine van der Westhuizen (1:01.63), while Hawaii’s Mandolin Nguyen and UC San Diego’s Chloe Braun are also sub-1:02. Last year, Ivanov scored a narrow victory over Pavicevic.

500 Freestyle – Bakersfield’s Mikayla Popham (4:49.17), Hawaii’s Casslyn Treydte (4:49.42) and UCSD’s Juli Arzave (4:49.80) are set up for an excellent showdown in the 500 free this week, with their listed season-bests within 63 one-hundredths of one another. The dark horse here is last year’s champion, Sproul, who clocked 4:48.81 en route to the 2022 title but hasn’t raced the event consistently this season.

MEN

100 Breaststroke – Not unlike the women’s event, the men’s 100 breast has been incredibly competitive this season in the MPSF, with the top eight swimmers all within a second of one another. BYU holds down the top four spots, with defending champion Josue Dominguez the lone swimmer sub-53 at 52.99, having won in 2022 in 52.83. Evan VanderSluis (53.03), Prolo (53.18) and Will Bonnett (53.18) are close behind, and there are four others right there. On top of that, the Hawaii duo of Justin Lisoway and Tomer Goldfaden have yet to crack 54 this season but were second and third last year with respective times of 53.21 and 53.37.

200 Freestyle – The 200 free is always a candidate to be one of the most exciting races of any meet with the momentum swings and differences in strategy that tend to happen, and that should be the case in the men’s race here. Hawaii’s Mario Surkovic and UC Santa Barbara’s Austin Sparrow have both been 1:35.9 this season, while last year’s champion, UCSD’s Ivan Kurakin, ranks tied for third at 1:36.54 but was 1:35.46 to win the 2022 title. CSU Bakersfield freshman Vili Sivec is a bit of a dark horse, as the Croatian native clocked 1:36.54 at the Big Al Invite in December leading off the Roadrunner relay after not even being entered in the 200 free individually. He may opt for the 100 fly here, but if he’s in the 200 free he’s in the fight for a top-three finish.

SWIMSWAM PICKS

WOMEN

1. Hawaii
2. UC San Diego
3. BYU

MEN

1. BYU
2. UC Santa Barbara
3. Incarnate Word

The women’s team race figures to be a tight three-way battle at the top, but with Transom in the fold, it’s hard to deny the Rainbow Wahine, while UC San Diego and BYU are close behind.

On the men’s side, UC Santa Barbara brings plenty of high-end ability but BYU appears to have an edge on depth to push them over the top once again, while newcomer Incarnate Word projects to crack the top-three in their debut.