Keiser Sweeps NAIA Titles for the Second Year in a Row: 2023 NAIA Champs Day 4 Recap

2023 NAIA SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• March 1-4, 2023
• Columbus Aquatic Center, Columbus, GA
• SCY (25 yards)
• Championship Central
• Live Stream
• Record Book
• Day 1 Recap
• Day 2 Recap
• Day 3 Recap

FULL RESULTS

Keiser has officially swept the team titles at the NAIA Swimming and Diving Championships for the second year in a row. The Keiser women’s team continued to pull away through the final day of the meet, ending up 331 points ahead of runner-up SCAD. The men’s team ended up finishing 150 points ahead of St. Thomas.

Keiser also closed out the meet in record-fashion, breaking he meet record in the final event of the meet: the men’s 400 free relay. Ivan Amillo-Escobedo (44.85), Alberto Garcia (43.09), Alex Kusik (44.27), and Max Miller (44.02) combined to clock a 2:56.23, winning the race by a little over a second. Another notable split in the event came from St. Thomas anchor Daniel Laureyssens, who brought his team home in 43.40.

Milligan picked up a win in the women’s 1650 free, where Riley Renaud posted a 17:21.03. Meanwhile, Aaron Wilmes (Keiser) was dominant in the men’s 1650 free, swimming a 15:20.53 to finish first by a whopping 23 seconds.

In the women’s 200 back, Keiser’s Marine Lecomte took over on the final 50 of the race, swimming to victory in 1:59.90. She touched as the only swimmer in the field under 2:00.

In the men’s 200 back, Cumberlands’ Jokubas Jankauskas broke the meet record, posting a 1:44.98. He was very consistent in his splitting, going 25.07, 26.41, 26.82, and 26.68 respectively on each of the 50s in the race.

Keiser then went 1-2 in the women’s 100 free, seeing Camryn Hudson touch first in 50.59. Teammate Liya Goupil-Lizekne came in second, clocking a 51.08.

Hudson then went on to win the women’s 200 fly as well, swimming a 2:01.38. She took the race over in the middle 100, splitting 30.05 and 31.70 on the second and third 50s respectively.

Keiser made it a sweep of the 100 freestyles, seeing Alberto Garcia win the men’s event in 43.52. He won convincingly, touching as the only swimmer in the field under 44 seconds.

In a photo-finish, Keiser’s Nikoline Biltoft-Jensen won the women’s 200 breast in 2:15.75. She touched just ahead of Olivet Nazarene’s Allison Pearson (2:15.78) and Julie Vega (2:15.99). Biltoft-Jensen and Pearson were essentially tied through the entire race, while Vega was out a about half-a-second behind on the first 100, then pulled in closer on the third 50 of the race.

St. Thomas’ Inigo Marina won the men’s 200 breast in a meet record of 1:56.54, touching first by two seconds. Marina opened up a huge lead through the first 150 of the race, then managed to hold on despite fading on the final 50.

St. Thomas’ Miguel Angel Arroyo Garcia won the men’s 200 fly in 1:48.12, touching out Keiser’s Max Miller (1:48.22). Arroyo Garcia was out much faster than Miller, but faded, while Miller closed the gap very quickly on the final 100.

In the women’s 400 free relay, Keiser’s Aubrey Bach (52.48), Liya Goupil-Lizekne (50.32), Timea Aspegren (51.39), and Camryn Hudson (50.40) teamed up to win convincingly in 3:24.59.

University of Jamestown’s Jada Shorter won women’s 1-meter diving with a final score of 236.75.

FINAL TEAM STANDINGS

WOMEN

1. Keiser University – 771
2. Savannah College of Art and De – 440
3. Olivet Nazarene University – 391
4. University of the Cumberlands – 329.5
5. Milligan University – 284
6. St. Thomas University – 245
7. Indiana Wesleyan University – 176
8. Westmont College – 162
9. The Master’s University – 136
10. Bethel University (Indiana) – 135
11. Saint Ambrose University – 130
12. Lindsey Wilson College – 110
13. Midland University – 71
14. Arizona Christian University – 49
15. Thomas University – 42
16. Sterling College – 39
17. Loyola University New Orleans – 26
18. University of Jamestown – 23
19. College of Saint Mary (Ne) – 21
20. Aquinas College – 16
21. West Virginia Institute of Tec – 13
22. College of Idaho – 11.5
23. Shawnee State University – 7
24. University of Saint Mary – 5
25. Life University – 3
26. Point University – 1

MEN

1. Keiser University – 719
2. St. Thomas University – 569
3. Savannah College of Art and De – 450
4. University of the Cumberlands – 363
5. Milligan University – 337
6. Lindsey Wilson College – 228
7. Saint Ambrose University – 187
8. Olivet Nazarene University – 155
9. Bethel University (Indiana) – 120
10. Thomas University – 108
11. Life University – 100
12. The Master’s University – 100
13. Loyola University New Orleans – 42
14. Shawnee State University – 15
15. Point University – 12
16. West Virginia Institute of Tec – 9
17. Simpson University – 9
18. Campbellsville University – 8
19. Ottawa University of Arizona – 6
20. Bethel University – 4
21. Union College (Kentucky) – 2
22. University of Saint Mary – 1
23. College of Idaho – 1