Watch Wednesday Night's Finals
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville men's swimming & diving team will travel to Oxford, Ohio this week looking to replicate the success UE had at last year's Mid-American Conference Championships, as the 2023 version of the conference meet will begin on Wednesday night at 5 p.m. central time.
"We are really looking forward to this week," said UE head coach Stuart Wilson. "This is what we have been training for all season, and it will be good to be able to go out and just lay it all on the line. The men have been working hard since our last meet, and now will be the time to let that hard work pay off."
Last year, Evansville broke a school record 13 different times in a four-day span, and current junior Alon Baer (Gesher HaZiv, Israel) and sophomore Patrik Vilbergsson (Kopavogur, Iceland) earned All-MAC honors. Now, six individuals who helped set six individual school records and four relay school records last year return to help lead Evansville into the 2023 MAC Championships.
Baer set both the 100- and 200-Yard Breaststroke school records at last year's MAC Championships, and posted an NCAA 'B-Cut' in the 100 Breast on his way to All-MAC honors last March. This year, Baer has been undefeated in both races – minus his competition at the Toyota U.S. Open Championships – and enters the week having posted the fastest 200 Breast time in the MAC, while ranking third-fastest in the 100 Breast.
Vilbergsson, meanwhile, ranks in the MAC's top 10 in both the 100- and 200-Yard Backstroke events this year, and set the UE school record in the 1,650 Freestyle at last year's MAC Championships. He traded the 1,000-Yard Freestyle school record with junior Jackson Caudill (Mt. Sterling, Ky./Montgomery County) at last year's MAC Championships, and Caudill returns this year ranked in the MAC's top five in both the 1,000 and 1,650 Free this year.
Senior Riccardo Di Domenico (Johannesburg, South Africa) was a part of four relay records for UE last year, and this season, he broke a more-than-20-year-old record in the 100-Yard Freestyle for UE. Sophomore Daniel Santos Lopez (Madrid, Spain) was also a key part of UE's relay success last season, and this year, ranks as the fourth-fastest MAC swimmer in the 100-Yard Butterfly, as he set a school record with a time of 48.00 earlier this season. Sophomore Jakob Grundbacher (Thalwil, Switzerland) also returns after helping UE break school records in the relays last March.
The MAC Championships will feature competitors from seven schools this year, with Evansville joining the likes of Ball State, Miami (OH), Missouri State, Southern Illinois, UIC and Valparaiso at the championships. Wednesday's action will begin at 5 p.m. central time with the 200-Yard Medley Relay. Then, approximately 30 minutes later, the 800-Yard Freestyle Relay will conclude the first day of action. Free video streaming will be available from the MAC's main website – getsomemaction.com.
