Wheeling, W. Va. - The Wheeling University Men's Swimming team rang in the new year with their annual Winter Training Trip to Clearwater, Florida. After a week's worth of training, the team put their skills to the test in dual meet action against Lenoir-Rhyne, where they put together several strong swims. Freshman Euan MacLeod would be honored for his work at the event, being name the Mountain East Conference's (MEC) first Male Swimmer of the Week, presented by The Healthplan, for the 2025 portion of the season.
Despite the loss on the scoreboard, the Cardinals had several strong swims on the day, picking up one gold medal, two silver medals, and a bronze medal on the day. The success would continue into the relay events, with the 200-Yard Medley Relay team taking home the other gold medal on the day while the 200-Yard Freestyle Relay team earned the second silver medal of the event. It was the second straight season that the Cardinals battled Lenoir-Rhyne, and despite falling as a team 136-47, the Cardinals are coming back ready to battle in the final MEC stretch. MacLeod was the Cardinal's leader throughout the event, picking up two of the silver medals on the day, while being a part of the gold medal Relay team.
Before he took the pool for the individual events, MacLeod served as the opening leg of the 200-Yard Medley Relay. He would start things strong, swimming a 24.24 split to help the team take the gold with a time of 1:40.42. As he took the pool for the individual events, MacLeod continued to show his success in the short distance events, swimming in both the 50 and 100-Yard Freestyles. The 50-Yard Freestyle was up first, and MacLeod came down to the wire with Lenoir-Rhyne's Renato Herran. He would end up taking second with a time of 21.97, finishing .06 seconds behind the top spot. In the 100-Yard Freestyle, MacLeod would compete with teammate Sarp Killic. MacLeod would once again take second place, swimming a time of 49.64 to earn his second silver medal of the day and his third medal overall.
For MacLeod, it was his third MEC Male Swimmer of the Week award of the season, and brings the number of Wheeling University Athletes honored to 28 on the season. MacLeod's win is the fifth for the Wheeling Men's Swim program, with Evan Yost and Arvid Hoglund each winning awards earlier this season. MacLeod's win is also the first MEC Player of the Week award for the Cardinals in 2025, with Wheeling Men's Basketball player Sean Ealy receiving the last honor back on December 16th, 2024.
Euan MacLeod and the Wheeling Men's Swimming team returns to action on Saturday, January 18th, when they host Fairmont State with first swims at 1 PM.
