SIU Rips 1:17.98 200 Free Relay on Day 1 of A3 Invitational, 3rd Fastest in NCAA

A3 Performance Invitational

• November 10 – 13, 2022
• Shea Natatorium – Carbondale, IL
• SCY (25 Yards)
• Results: “2022 A3 Performance Invitational” on MeetMobile

Mid-season invite season is upon us, and the A3 Performance Invitational, hosted by Southern Illinois University (SIU), has gotten things off to a hot start.

One of the most electrifying swims of the day came during the time trial session, when SIU’s Mykyta Terentiev, Ruard Van Renen, Alex Santiago, and Donat Csuvarszki thew down 1:17.98 in the 200 free relay. All four swimmers split under 20 seconds, with Csuvarski anchoring in a sizzling 18.95. The time is a school record and currently the third-fastest in the NCAA, behind only UVA’s 1:17.17 and NC State’s 1:17.54.

The time also marks a huge improvement for the team: at this meet last year, SIU clocked 1:19.60. Csuvarski is the only carryover from last year’s relay, where he split 19.21. It’s a statement swim for a mid-season invite, and a positive sign for the team. For context, the NCAA ‘B’ standard is 1:17.58. The last time that SIU had a relay swim at NCAAs was 1990.

SIU has another invite next weekend, and they swapped all four swimmers for the relay during the finals session. They won that relay with a time of 1:20.85, over a second ahead of runners-up University of Evansville. Because they have another invite on the schedule (as do some of the other teams) it seems like this is a shave-and-taper meet for some, but potentially not for all athletes.

The Salukis were far from done though. Through one day of competition, they’ve opened up a massive lead on both the men’s and women’s sides. They won every event except two–the women’s 50 free and the men’s 400 medley relay. The finals session was highlighted by Celia Pulido lowering her own school record in the 200 IM in 2:00.74. The men also continued to close in on NCAA ‘B’ cut times. Csuvarszki swam 20.24 to win the 50 free, with his teammates Santiago and Terentiev .01 and .03 seconds behind, respectively. The ‘B’ cut is a 19.82, which Csuvarski was only .02 seconds away from in prelims. Given that and his 18.95 relay split, it seems like only a matter of time until he hits the cut. Santiago also added time in finals; he clocked 19.89 in prelims, also within reach of the cut time.

In the 200 IM, Ukrainian sophomore Jack Khrypunov took a whopping 6.69 seconds off his prelims time to win the 200 IM, blasting 1:46.91. That’s just .39 seconds off the ‘B’ cut, which is impressive considering his entry time for the meet was 1:59.12. Over the course of the day, he cut over 12 seconds off his season-best time.

As for the non-SIU winners, Eastern Illinois’ Camryn Lewis won the 50 free in 23.50, while Evansville won the men’s 400 medley relay in a school record time of 3:15.03. It was their middle 200 of Alon Baer (54.11) and Daniel Santos Lopez (46.87) that pushed them ahead of SIU. Then, their anchor of Riccardo Di Domenico split 44.06, holding off a charging Alex Crimera (43.70) for the win. The Purple Aces’ second school record of the session came from junior Iryna Tsesiul, who clocked 55.47 leading off the women’s 400 medley relay.

The downstate Illinois teams have faced several years of tumult, both in and out of the pool. Eastern Illinois University (EIU) especially has had to deal with numerous coaching changes, including three in the last three seasons. They hired Johnathan Jordan late this summer, and so far, that move seems to be working out. In particular, SIU, EIU, and Evansville have shown encouraging sparks to kick off this invitational.

Scores Thru Day 1

Women

1. SIU – 435.5
2. Evansvile – 160.5
3. Eastern Illinois – 134
4. Bellarmine – 103
5. Southern Indiana – 71
6. Valparaiso – 59

Men

1. SIU – 357
2. Evansvile – 200
3. Bellarmine – 122
4. Eastern Illinois – 80
5. Southern Indiana – 78
6. Valparaiso – 76