Courtesy: Big 12 Sports
Cincinnati’s trio of Hunter Gubeno (men’s swimmer), Owen Chiles (men’s newcomer) and Lindi Worrell (women’s swimmer) took home three of the Conference’s swimming and diving awards while Kansas’ duo of Anna Gearhart (women’s newcomer) and Lize van Leeuwen (women’s diver) completed the women’s honors. West Virginia’s Christian Torres rounded out the group with the Men’s Diver of the Week.
Gubeno led the Bearcats with their lone gold medal in the men’s meet against No. 3 Indiana. The fifth-year graduate student clocked a time of 1:41.20 in the 200 back, over four seconds faster than the runner-up. He added a second-place finish as a part of the Bearcats’ 200 free A-relay with a split of 19.50 (1:21.54). It is his third Conference award this season and fourth of his career.
Worrell stacked three podium finishes including two individual event medals against the third-ranked Hoosiers. The sophomore from Westampton, New Jersey took home the bronze medal in the 100 breast with a time of 1:02.55 before finishing as the runner-up in the 200 breast (2:17.23). She wrapped up her meet with another second-place finish in the 200 free relay as the second leg (22.88 split, 1:31.99). It is her first Conference honor of her career.
Torres earned two wins at the Rutgers Diving Invite as he swept the 1-meter and 3-meter events. The junior from Jupiter, Florida finished with scores of 283.05 on the 1-meter and 292.85 on the 3-meter. He concluded the meet with a second-place finish on the platform dive to secure his first Conference accolade of his career.
Van Leeuwen swept both diving events she competed in against Drury. In the 1-meter dive, she tallied a score of 303.98 and added a score of 292.73 on the 3-meter dive to help the Jayhawks win the meet over Rockhurst. It is the junior’s first Conference weekly award of her career.
Chiles picked up his second Big 12 Men’s Newcomer of the Week award of the season with a trio of runner-up finishes against the third-ranked Hoosiers. The freshman criminal justice major logged a time of 20.56 in the 50 free and 1:47.08 in the 200 IM before clocking a split of 20.02 in the 200 free relay as the third leg.
Gearhart became the first Jayhawk to be named the Big 12 Women’s Newcomer of the Week since Addi Barnes on January 26, 2022. The freshman finished with two podium finishes against Rockhurst in the 200 fly and 200 medley relay. In the 200 fly, she touched the wall in a time of 2:03.29 for the gold medal and added a silver medal in the 200 medley relay as the fly leg of the relay (1:43.33).
A full list of the season’s weekly Big 12 Swimming and Diving award winners can be found here.
Big 12 Swimming and Diving Weekly Awards- December 11
Men’s Swimmer of the Week: Hunter Gubeno, Cincinnati
Men’s Diver of the Week: Christian Torres, West Virginia
Men’s Newcomer of the Week: Owen Chiles, Cincinnati
Women’s Swimmer of the Week: Lindi Worrell, Cincinnati
Women’s Diver of the Week: Lize van Leeuwen, Kansas
Women’s Newcomer of the Week: Anna Gearhart, Kansas
Courtesy: Cincinnati Athletics
CINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati swimming and diving program collected three Big 12 weekly awards for the third time this season, the league announced on Wednesday.
Hunter Gubeno (Men’s Swimmer) and Owen Chiles (Men’s Newcomer) grabbed their third and second accolades of the fall season, respectively. Gubeno has now claimed the honor four times since joining the conference in 2023.
Lindi Worrell (Women’s Swimmer) received the first weekly award of her career.
Graduate student Hunter Gubeno was named Big 12’s Men’s Swimmer of the Week after securing first place against Indiana in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:41.20.
Sophomore Lindi Worrell enters her name into the mix after a third-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke, clocking a time 1:02.55.
Freshman Owen Chiles continues his standout debut season, earning his second Big 12 Weekly Award with a second-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:47.08.
Interesting that they were suited for that meet…