Despite dominant home opener, men’s swimming continues to flail – The Cauldron

The Cleveland State men’s swimming team began their season with a 132-130 loss to Miami University (Ohio) on Oct. 9.

The Vikings had eight individual event wins at the meet and saw seven swimmers make their collegiate debuts. Two athletes who stood out were freshman Jackson Nester and freshman Paddy Johnston.

Nester won the 500-yard freestyle at his debut, finishing in 4:40.99 while Johnston won the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 49.43.

Cleveland State also saw sophomore Quinn DeGraaf post his personal best time in the 1,000-yard freestyle, finishing in 9:50.46.

A Vikings swimmer glides through the water. Photo by Matthew Keyerleber

On Oct. 15-16, the Vikings competed in a meet with Notre Dame and Pitt. In the two day meet, Cleveland State lost to Pitt 241-111, and they lost to Notre Dame 261-92.

Sophomore Bob Fick placed third in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:49.30, and Nester placed third in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:41.05.

The Vikings saw multiple swimmers achieve personal bests at their tri-meet. Freshman Connor Green had a personal best in the 200-yard freestyle, posting a time of 1:43.94. Freshman Andrew Arslanian posted a personal best in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.69. And senior Bob Lenart had a personal best in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:57.77.

The Vikings went on to host Youngstown State in Cleveland State’s home opener on Oct. 22. It was an absolutely dominant win for the Vikings taking down the Penguins 210-88. There were wins all around for the Vikings winning both relays and diving events with a couple of individual wins as well.

Senior Timothy Kubacki had a three-win meet taking home the 200-yard freestyle, 200-yard backstroke, and 200-yard individual medley.

A Vikings swimmer comes off the block while his teammate comes up under him. Photo by Matthew Keyerleber

The Vikings would not be met with continued success going into the weekend as on Oct. 23 they dropped an intense dual to Kenyon, falling 187-117. The team only saw five Vikings winners with senior Jack Krusinski winning the 100-yard breaststroke, Fick taking the 200-yard and 100-yard butterfly, and Johnston finishing off the 100-yard freestyle.

The Vikings will dive in next on Nov. 5 battling it out against Oberlin and Findlay at home.