Courtesy: CAA Sports
RICHMOND, Va. (April 13, 2022) – Towson sophomore Brian Benzing was selected as the CAA Men’s Swimmer of the Year for the second consecutive season, while UNCW freshman Nic Newis was honored as the CAA Men’s Diver and Rookie Diver of the Year in a vote by the league’s head coaches.
Joining Benzing and Newis as 2022 award winners in men’s swimming and diving were Drexel freshman Alessio Gianni and UNCW freshman Sam O’Brien as Co-Rookie Swimmers of the Year. UNCW’s Bobby Guntoro was voted CAA Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year and UNCW’s Beau Bunn received CAA men’s diving Coach of the Year accolades for the third straight season.
Benzing earned honorable mention All-America honors after placing 13th in the 100 breast at the NCAA Championship with a time of 51.66. He broke his own CAA and program record in the NCAA prelims with a time of 51.47. Benzing was the CAA champion in the 100 breast with a conference record time of 52.34. He also placed second in the 200 breast (1:55.33) and first in the 400 free relay at the CAA Championship. Benzing broke school records this season in the 100 breast, 200 breast, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay and 200 free relay.
Newis was named the Most Outstanding Diver at the CAA Championship after a dominant performance. The freshman posted a score of 310.45 in the 3-meter competition, winning the event by 36 points. He was nearly as impressive on the 1-meter board with a score of 308.20, which was 27 points better than the next closest competitor. He went on to finish in the top 32 on both the 1 and 3-meter boards at the NCAA Zone B championships. Newis captured five of the six events he entered this season.
Gianni was the CAA champion in the 200 free with a time of 1:37.34. He also posted a second-place finish in the 500 free and took fifth place in the 200 fly. Gianni went on to set a school record in the 200 free during a 10th-place performance at the National Invitational Championship. He is Drexel’s first Rookie Swimmer of the Year since 2019.
O’Brien was the CAA champion in the 500 free with a school-record time of 4:23.83. The freshman also set a school record while winning the 1650 free at the CAA Championship with a time of 15:27.16. He added second-place effort in the 400 IM. It’s the third straight season that UNCW has had a Rookie Swimmer of the Year honoree.
Guntoro was chosen as the Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year for the first time. He guided the Seahawks to their league-record 14th conference title, but their first since 2014. UNCW set a program record with 886.5 points after winning 11 events.
Bunn received the Men’s Diving Coach of the Year award for the third year in a row and the fourth time overall. Along with helping Newis to a sweep of both boards, UNCW got a second-place performance from Ethan Graff in the 1-meter competition.
In addition to the 2022 major award winners in men’s swimming and diving, the following individuals and relay teams received All-CAA accolades based on their performances at the CAA Championship.
50-Freestyle: Michael Fazio, Towson; E’Likai Crompton-English, UNCW; Graham Hertweck, William & Mary
100-Freestyle: Ryan Baldino, Towson; Michael Fazio, Towson; Graham Hertweck, William & Mary
200-Freestyle: Alessio Gianni, Drexel; Jacob Duracinsky, UNCW; Ryan Baldino, Towson
500-Freestyle: Sam O’Brien, UNCW; Alessio Gianni, Drexel; Andrew Taylor, Delaware
1650-Freestyle: Sam O’Brien, UNCW; Silas Crosby, UNCW; Andrew Taylor, Delaware
100-Butterfly: Henderson Louviere, UNCW; Paris Raptis, Drexel; Nick McClure, Towson
200-Butterfly: Nick McClure, Towson; Paris Raptis, Drexel; Simeon Sabev, Delaware
100-Breaststroke: Brian Benzing, Towson; Toni Sabev, Delaware; Kacper Karnik, Drexel
200-Breaststroke: Kacper Karnik, Drexel; Brian Benzing, Towson; Toni Sabev, Delaware
100-Backstroke: Will Barker, UNCW; Will Goldey, UNCW; DJ Fechtman, Delaware
200-Backstroke: Gavin Currie, Delaware; Will Barker, UNCW; Brent Hoshall, UNCW
200-Individual Medley: Henderson Louviere, UNCW; Brian Benzing, Towson; Paris Raptis, Drexel
400-Individual Medley: Aiden Duffy, UNCW; Sam O’Brien, UNCW; Silas Crosby, UNCW
200-Freestyle Relay: Towson (Brian Benzing, Michael Fazio, Luke Schwar, Ryan Baldino)
UNCW (E’Likai Crompton-English, Noah Sipkowski, Wes Carter, Gianmichel D’Alessandro)
Drexel (Kacper Karnik, Alex Flynn, Kevin Spear, John Scully)
400-Freestyle Relay: Towson (Brian Benzing, Michael Fazio, Luke Schwar, Ryan Baldino)
UNCW (Jacob Duracinsky, E’Likai Crompton-English, Henderson Louviere, Kenneth Lowe)
Delaware (Ryan Polino, Miguel Vasquez, Toni Sabev, Luke Rautzhan)
800-Freestyle Relay: UNCW (Henderson Louviere, Jacob Duracinsky, Sam O’Brien, Kenneth Lowe)
Towson (TJ Bearor, Michael Fazio, Luke Schwar, Ryan Baldino)
Delaware (Simeon Sabev, Andrew Taylor, Gavin Currie, Bryce Ciecko)
200-Medley Relay: UNCW (Will Barker, Gianmichel D’Alessandro, Henderson Louviere, E’Likai Crompton-English)
Towson (Evan Bota, Brian Benzing, Nick McClure, Ryan Baldino)
Delaware (Gavin Currie, Toni Sabev, Simeon Sabev, Miguel Vasquez)
400-Medley Relay: UNCW (Will Barker, Gianmichel D’Alessandro, Henderson Louviere, Kenneth Lowe)
Towson (Evan Bota, Brian Benzing, Nick McClure, Michael Fazio)
Delaware (Gavin Currie, Toni Sabev, Simeon Sabev, Luke Rautzhan)
One-Meter Dive: Nic Newis, UNCW; Ethan Graff, UNCW; Jack Patton, Drexel
Three-Meter Dive: Nic Newis, UNCW; Philip Townsend, Delaware; Will Seely, Drexel
