INDIANAPOLIS – After a first semester that brought top-five rankings for both swimming & diving teams according to the CSCAA, the Greyhounds have taken several steps to create a successful championship post-season coming in February. With the vigorous Christmas break training nearing its end, the Greyhounds looked to kick off the New Year with some fast swims & several victories versus Division I competition at the IU Natatorium Friday night.
 
A big step that UIndy has taken again is the addition of two new student-athletes to their rosters. Head Coach Jason Hite has brought several athletes to the team starting in second semester during his tenure. Both Guilherme Zavaneli and Rodrigo Codo Berti have proved to be critical components that have come in previous second semesters, holding eight different school records between them. This year, Hite brought in a swimmer on both teams: Hector Gomez Diez for the men and Izzi Clark for the women. Both bring added depth in freestyle events, along with Gomez Diez's strong butterfly & Clark's stellar backstroke.
 
The final preparation that both the swimming & diving teams are taking is racing fast competition. On Friday night, both teams faced off in a quad meet against Division I opponents Ball State, Xavier and host IUPUI at the downtown Natatorium.
 
"Since we want to be the best in Division II, we're going to have to swim against some decent Division I teams," explains Hite. "One of our main goals is about how we preform when (Division II) Nationals comes around.  Everyone at Nationals is fast, so we need to learn how to swim fast at any time during the season."
 
The Greyhounds had a hot start with the first event of the night, the 200 medley relay. The men took their first win of the night, with the team of Berti, Jan Zuchowicz, Ante Lucev, & Zavaneli dominating the event with a 1:32.12. As the 1000 freestyle came after, freshman Laura Boardman swam a solid 10:28.9 taking second overall in the event. Soon after, her freshman teammate Adam Rosipal grinded to a second-place finish as well at 9:33.69. Moving to the 200 freestyle, the Greyhound freshmen continued to dominate, with Krystal Caylor rocking a 1:54.86 to take the win for the women. Junior Vitor Botana finished his 200 free with a 1:44.38 for a second place overall in the men's event. The distances soon became shorter, as sophomore Ante Lucev gave himself a :50.9 win for the Greyhounds in the men's 100 backstroke. Moving to the 100 breastroke, Athina Konstantinidi garnered another win this season on a 1:06.1 for the women. Zuchowicz gathered another dominant win on the night, this time in a 57.47-second 100 breastroke, with teammate Lucian Conner winning second at a :58.88. When the monstrous 200 fly came next, the Greyhounds proved that they were prepared. Darian Murray continued a strong sophomore campaign for the women, slamming a 2:07.07 for second place, while Gomez Diez swam a 1:54.39 for second place during the men's race. With the quick 50 freestyle underway, Zavaneli (:21.08) & Victor Antonon (:21.2) obliterated the field for the men in a one-two finish.
 
The men showed fast swims in the 100 freestyle also, with Lucev gaining another win at a speedy :46.02. Berti provided yet another Greyhound victory, posting a 1:51.58 in dominant fashion for the men's 200 back. Konstantinidi then led the Greyhound charge in the women's 200 breast on a great 2:24.93 victory. The men continued a stellar day in the breastroke, with Conner getting second overall on a 2:10.56 swim. The women's 500 freestyle showed more impressive swims from several Greyhounds, including a fantastic first-place 5:05.36 finish by Boardman. The men's 100 butterfly soon followed as Lucev took over again with a powerful :50.59 victory in the event.
 
On the boards, sophomore Josh Zylstra provided a terrific second place on the men's one meter with a grand total of 298.8 points. Teammate Payton Staman slid into fourth place in the event, while also garnering an impressive total of 289.5 points. At the three meter, Zylstra was again the top Greyhound for third place, finishing his night with 303.4 points. When it was the women's turn to dive off the one meter, freshman Cassie Kury provided a stellar 241.8 points for third place overall. On the women's three meter, junior Chloe Jones pulled a solid 211.85 for a fifth-place finish in a strong field.
 
As the final string of events concluded, the Greyhounds were far from ending the fast swims. The women's 200 IM went well for Caylor, giving a solid first-place win at 2:09.3. Berti extended a solid night of swimming by bringing on a win in the men's 200 IM at 1:54.76. For the final event, the women swam strong to finish the 400 free relay at second place on a 3:35.85 time from the team of Malvina Shoukri, Stefanie Haholiades, Mary Niklarz and Caylor.
 
The women concluded the night with team victories against IUPUI & Ball State, but suffered a close loss to Xavier.
 
On the final race of the evening, the men's 400 Free relay proved to be critical for the Greyhounds. The team of Lucev, Chris Gurski, Gomez Diez, and Zavaneli were victorious at a time of 3:06.85, sealing victories over all three DI opponents to sweep the meet. The official scoring breakdown is listed below:
 
Women
Xavier: 154 over UIndy: 139
Xavier: 173 over IUPUI: 121
UIndy: 152 over IUPUI: 147
Xavier: 184 over Ball State: 104
UIndy: 165: over Ball State: 131
IUPUI: 174 over Ball State: 126
 
Men
UIndy: 197 over Xavier: 94
IUPUI: 211 over Xavier: 83
UIndy: 151 over IUPUI: 148
Xavier: 184 over Ball State: 110
UIndy: 222 over Ball State: 77
IUPUI: 229 over Ball State: 71
 
UIndy's swimming & diving teams will continue their competition season with a dual meet at the Ruth Lilly Fitness Center at UIndy next Saturday, Jan. 13 versus Tiffin.