Indian River Women and Men Win 36th- and 44th-Straight NJCAA Titles

2018 NJCAA NATIONAL SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

The fourth and final night of the 2018 NJCAA Swimming and Diving Championships featured finals for the women’s and men’s 50 fly, 1650 free, 100 free, 200 back, 200 breast, and 400 free relay.

Indian River’s Sophia Diagne kicked off the night with a win in the 50 fly, going 24.82. She was followed by teammate Camryn Wheals in 25.52. and Iowa Central’s Jana Burner in 26.24. Indian River’s Ruben Van Leeuwen won the men’s race in 21.76, followed by Iowa Central’s Mitch Emery in 22.55 and Southwestern Oregon’s Caleb Dean in 23.03.

Ianthe Van Der Westhuizen of Indian River topped the women’s 1650 by over 14 seconds, winning in 17:34.13. In second was her teammate Molly Layde in 17:47.30, and in third was South Georgia’s Brittany Herndon in 18:29.46. Indian River’s Nikola Milosavljevic won the men’s race in 15:56.85, followed by Southwestern Oregon’s Collin McGuire in 16:07, and South Georgia’s Daniel Johnson in 16:40.76.

In the women’s 100 free, Indian River went 1-2-3-4-5. Camryn Wheals lead the way in 51.08, followed by Courtney Perrett in 51.76. Malin Wallen took third in 52.13. The Indian River men swept their race immediately following, with Ryen Van Wyk taking first in 44.44. In second was Guillaume Bolivard in 45.10, followed by Kevin Bargate in 45.32.

Sule Van Der Merwe took first in the women’s 200 back (2:02.40), followed by Indian River teammate Courtney Perrett in 2:03.97. MCC’s Alicia Shenal took third in 2:08.83. Indian River went 1-2-3-4 in the men’s race. Luka Tomic was first in 1:45.86, followed by Conor Lynch in 1:48.42 and Gabriele Sasia in 1:50.89.

Indian River’s Olivia Berglund won the women’s 200 breast in 2:19.96, followed by Iowa Lakes teammates Brenda Neves and Shayna Asuncion in 2:28.48 and 2:30.71, respectively. Iowa Lakes’ Hylton Collinson won the men’s race in 2:01.11, followed by Indian River’s Christian Nishimura in 2:03.78 and South Georgia’s Andrew Brown in 2:06.41.

The Indian River women’s team of Sophia DiagneCamryn WhealsCourtney Perrett, and Malin Wallen won the 400 free relay in 3:25.59 (50.83/52.02/51.68/51.06), over 15 seconds ahead of Iowa Central second-place 3:41.16. Indian River’s men’s team of Ruben Van Leeuwen, Ryan Van Wyk, Guillaume Bolivard, and Luka Tomic won their race by over 11 seconds, splitting 45.24/44.10/44.90/44.87 ent route to their final time of 2:59.11.

Final Women’s Team Scores

  1. Indian River State College 1181
  2. South Georgia State College 591
  3. Iowa Central Community College 379
  4. Southwestern Oregon CC 377
  5. Lincoln College 372
  6. Iowa Lakes Community College 370
  7. Fashion Institute of Technology 256
  8. Monroe Community College 241
  9. Erie Community College 231
  10. Genesee Community College 143
  11. Barton Community College Swim 105
  12. Herkimer County Community Coll 28
  13. Jamestown Community College 23

Final Men’s Team Scores

  1. Indian River State College 1245
  2. South Georgia State College 561.5
  3. Monroe Community College 450
  4. Southwestern Oregon CC 411.5
  5. Iowa Central Community College 341
  6. Lincoln College 340.5
  7. Barton Community College Swim 313.5
  8. Genesee Community College 297
  9. Erie Community College 165
  10. Iowa Lakes Community College 98
  11. Herkimer County Community Coll 62

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Coach Eric Skelly
6 years ago

We typically get 1 or 2 kids from the NJCAA to our school each year with several others looking.

Pioneer
6 years ago

Couldn’t tell you an exact # (I would be curious as well) but as a former {then} IRCC alum, we had a very successful class including the #1 men’s recruit in the country. Many of our team members, and the few years after, transferred to top tier programs and heavily contributed (D1 national titles).

Sccoach
Reply to  Pioneer
6 years ago

I’m making a lot of assumptions based on my JC experience, but I’m assuming by the names of the swimmers that the coach has connections with international coaches/teams. Sometimes kids coming over from other countries have a hard time acclimating to school and the English language and 2 years at a JC helps with that. A place like Indian River will give them quality swim training (which most other JC’s can’t provide) along with a little bit of an easier academic challenge compared to a 4 year school.

Pioneer
Reply to  Pioneer
6 years ago

It’s a perennial powerhouse-think cal, texas, auburn but on a smaller scale. Those schools may have some “off” years but always remain the top of the top. While IRSC is not in the best FL town, you are still close to all those amazing cities and the beach etc.

While I completely agree with sccoach below, I think it’s also an opportunity for athletes who are not as fast, a chance to get develop and possibly get faster as in the case with many kids who have gone through as well as to booster grades. It also puts you into the swimming in college mindset and what it takes.

About Torrey Hart

Torrey Hart

Torrey is from Oakland, CA, and majored in media studies and American studies at Claremont McKenna College, where she swam distance freestyle for the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps team. Outside of SwimSwam, she has bylines at Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, SB Nation, and The Student Life newspaper.

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