2023 MAC SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, March 1 – Saturday, March 4, 2023
- Oxford, OH
- Defending Champions
- Men: Miami (OH) (2x)
- Live Results
- Live Video
- Championship Central
- Fan Guide
- Day 1 Recap
- Day 2 Recap
- Day 3 Recap
The 2023 Men’s MAC Swimming and Diving Championships have now concluded, seeing the Miami (OH) Redhawks win their third-straight conference title. Missouri State kept it it close with Miami throughout the meet, but ended up in second by 41.5 points. Southern Illinois landed comfortably in third place.
Also of note, UIC finished fifth in their first year competing in the conference.
On the final night of the meet, Missouri State’s Dylan Moffatt won a dominant victory in the 1650 free. Moffatt sped to a 15:08.58, touching first by almost 30 seconds. He swam a consistent race, splitting 4:59.57 on the first 550 yards, 5:03.66 on the middle 550, and 5:05.35 on the final 550. Moffatt holds the MAC Record at 14:55.60, which he swam last year.
Following that, Southern Illinois star freshman Ruard van Renen broke the pool record in the 200 back, speeding to a 1:40.64. Van Renen won the race by five seconds, breaking the SIU program record in the event as well. Despite showing his 100 back speed earlier in the meet, Van Renen swam a well-paced race tonight in the 200, going out in 49.22 on the first 100 and coming home in 51.42.
SIU kept the train rolling, seeing 50 free champion Donat Csuvarszki win the 100 free in 43.16. The performance came in just 0.03 seconds off his MAC Record of 43.13, which he set last year. The 100 free was a big event for the Salukis, seeing Alex Santiago (43.69) come in third, Alex Cimera (44.33) take fourth, and Mykyta Terentiev (44.56) tie for sixth.
Southern Illinois would also go on to win the 400 free relay in a new MAC Record of 2:52.45. Santiago (43.56), Cimera (44.01), van Renen (42.33), and Csuvarszki (42.55) teamed up to put together a dominant win, touching first by a little over five seconds.
Evansville picked up a win in the 200 breast, where Alon Baer took over on the back half of the race, speeding into the finish with a final time of 1:56.16. Ball State’s Joey Garberick was in the lead at the 100 turn, but he faded a little bit through the back half of the race and ended up touching second in 1:57.69.
Miami’s Henju Duvenhage picked up another win tonight as well, taking the 200 fly in 1:44.08. It was a very tight race with Missouri State’s Pawel Krawczyk, who finished second in 1:44.28. Duvenhage opened up a sizable lead on the first 100 of the race, taking it out in 48.68, compared to Krawczyk’s 49.87. The pair then had the exact same third 50 splits, both clocking 26.83s. Facing a deficit of a little over a second with a 50 to go, Krawczyk came roaring home in 27.58 on the last lap, closing fast on Duvenhage, who split 28.57, but it wasn’t quite enough.
FINAL STANDINGS
- Miami (OH) – 755
- Missouri State – 713.5
- Southern Illinois – 611.5
- Ball State – 457
- UIC – 366.5
- Evansville – 340.5
- Valparaiso – 99
Pretty remarkable what SIU did in the relays despite the overall team finish. Had they not been DQ’d in the 200 medley on the first night, the Salukis would have swept all 5 relays with MAC Records in 4 of them.
200 Medley Relay: 1:24.59 (MAC Record – DQ’d)
800 Free Relay: 6:29.51 (SIU School Record)
200 Free Relay: 1:18.06 (MAC Record)
400 Medley Relay: 3:09.47 (MAC Record)
400 Free Relay: 2:52.45 (MAC Record)
One would expect them to dominate the relays again next year – the only relay with a senior in their lineup this year was the 800
Never a doubt. Let’s go Hawks
Appreciate being able to see the stream of this meet. A couple of suggestions: 1) Give the announcers the pronunciation sheets for names – it was brutal; 2) DO NOT CUT TO UNDERWATER CAMERA ANGLE ON BREASTROKE. My goodness, the multiple butterfly kicks is outrageous off the turns, and clearly not viewable by officials over the water (glare/lanes, etc.). The alternating red and white on who is actually in the water is not helpful.