2023 CCSA SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- February 15-18, 2023
- Allan Jones Aquatic Center, Knoxville, Tenn.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Defending Champion: Liberty women (4x), Incarnate Word men (1x)
- Start Times (ET)
- Prelims: 10 am
- Finals: 6 pm
- Meet Central
- Pre-Scratch Psych Sheet
- Live Results (MeetMobile)
- Live Stream
FINAL TEAM SCORES
WOMEN
- Liberty University – 1441.5
- James Madison University – 1339
- Queens University of Charlotte – 1119
- Florida Gulf Coast University – 931
- Univ North Carolina Asheville – 791
- Campbell University – 546
- Georgia Southern University – 526
- Old Dominion University – 475
- Gardner-Webb University – 332
- University of North Florida – 293.5
- Bellarmine University – 192
MEN
- Queens University of Charlotte – 933.5
- Florida Atlantic University – 795
- Old Dominion University – 466
- Gardner-Webb University – 443.5
- Bellarmine University – 301
The Liberty women managed to win a fifth-straight CCSA conference title in Knoxville on Saturday night, winning the meet by 101.5 points. Meanwhile, Queens (NC) won the men’s title convincingly in their first year in the conference and as an NCAA Division I program.
The final two days of the meet saw some fantastic racing. Alexander Bauch (Queens) won another event, taking the men’s 100 back in 46.36. Not only was it a great swim for Bauch, he led a 1-2-3 charge by Queens. Finn Howard finished second in 47.63, with Andreas Marz taking third in 48.17.
Liberty’s Abbie Shaw won the women’s 100 back in 53.22. She got out to a huge early lead, splitting 25.07 on the first 50. Though she faded a bit, coming home in 28.15, she still managed to win the race by a second.
Queens then posted another 1-2-3 (sort of) finish in the men’s 100 breast. Jan Delkeskamp won the race, swimming a 53.23 after getting out to a speedy start with a 24.80 on the first 50. Behind Delkeskamp, Noah Beladi and Balazs Berecz tied for second at 53.67.
Danielle Melilli (Queens) won the 100 breast in a tight race with freshman teammate Annika Huber. Melilli built a small early lead, splitting 28.22 on the first 50, 0.36 seconds ahead of Huber. Huber closed faster, splitting 31.96 to 32.18 on the second 50. At the finish, Melilli was first in 1:00.40, while Huber touched second in 1:00.54.
Queens’ Alex Kunnert won the men’s 200 fly in 1:42.34, breaking the CCSA Record in the process. He swam a swam an aggressive race, going 48.29 on the first half, then came home in 54.05. 100 fly champion Rateb Hussein (FAU) took second with a 1:44.15.
FGCU’s Cam Kuriger won the women’s 200 fly in 1:59.16. She was the only swimmer in the field under 2:00.
Queens cracked another CCSA Record, taking the men’s 800 free relay in 6:24.43. Daniel Meszaros (1:34.80), Alex Kunert (1:35.61), Matej Dusa (1:37.17), and Luke Erwee (1:36.85) combined to earn the win by a whopping eight seconds.
It was Liberty who won the women’s 800 free relay, seeing Sydney Stricklin (1:47.66), Kate Baker (1:49.14), Eva Suggs (1:47.01), and Shelby Kahn (1:48.19) team up to win the race.
Matej Dusa (Queens) took the men’s 100 free in 42.78, breaking his own CCSA Record of 42.88. Dusa was out in 20.22, establishing the lead. He beat out teammate Daniel Meszaros, who came in second with a 43.10.
Danielle Melilli found herself on top of the podium once again, winning the women’s 100 free in 49.13. She was trailing teammate Monica Gumina at the 50-mark, splitting 23.41 to Gumina’s 23.39. Melilli then worked her way into the lead on the back half, while Gumina ended up taking second in 49.53.
Queens posted yet another 1-2-3 finish in a men’s event, this time in the 200 back. Andreas Marz won the race convincingly, swimming a 1:43.98. He led the race wire-to-wire, expanding his lead as he went. Alexander Bauch clocked a 1:46.24 for second, while Yannick Plasil touched third in 1:47.65.
After winning the women’s 100 back on Friday, Liberty’s Abbie Shaw made it a sweep, winning the 200 back in 1:55.44. She got out to a truly massive early lead, splitting 54.84 on the first 100, which was the fastest split in the field by over two seconds. She faded, though, coming home in 1:00.60 on the final 100, but her lead was so big that she still won the race comfortably.
In another 1-2-3 finish, Queens’ Noah Beladi won the men’s 200 breast in 1:56.32. Jan Delkeskamp and Declan Gleason were second and third in 1:57.61 and 1:57.63 respectively. Queens freshman Annika Huber won the women’s 200 breast by over a second, swimming a 2:11.19.
Closing out the meet, Queens shattered the CCSA Record in the men’s 400 free relay. Alex Kunert (43.12), Matej Dusa (42.78), Daniel Meszaros (42.96), and Luke Erwee (44.45) teamed up for a 2:53.31, taking exactly two seconds off the conference record.
Queens also won the women’s 400 free relay, where Danielle Melilli (49.08), Monica Gumina (49.45), Sophie Lange (50.84), and Ryley Heck (49.96) combined for a 3:19.33.
What’s up with the insane order of events for this conference?
It’s the alt format where indv. events are spread over 4 days rather than 3 to alleviate some of the middle day doubles (like 1fly, 1back). SEC and ACC does the same now (with same schedule). The only deviation from the SEC/ACC is they did not start with the 4×2 relay on Tuesday night. It looks like they did it after the Friday prelim session, which if a good idea – far more humane than doing it at the end of the finals session where the indv. 2free is also swum.
SEC/ACC had 1 diving event plus 2 relays on Tuesday for the men and women (6 total events on Tuesday). When there are a lot of teams at the conference meet it is nice to split it up a little more so that the prelims (and finals) do not last for ever.
In recap: SwimSwam predicted a LU victory by 6pts. Yet LU “managed” to win by a greater margin. All of the teams swam well. Congratulations to all the competitors.