Wheeling, W. Va. - Through their first three events of the season, the Wheeling University Men's and Women's Swimming teams ((4-0, 2-0) (3-1, 1-1)) gets their first swims in the home pool for the first time this season. The Cardinals will host tri-meet action against Bethany College and Chatham University, with first swims beginning at 4 PM. Both teams are looking to build off hot starts to the season as they prepare for a Mountain East Conference (MEC) stretch leading up to the midseason meet.
The Cardinals took a week off last week, and were last in the pool on October 15th against Washington & Jefferson and Bethany College. On the men's side, the Cardinals would pick up seven gold medal performances across the nine races, beating Washington & Jefferson 125-91 and Bethany 143-6. Wheeling would start and end the day with relay victories, while four individual swimmers would split the final five gold medals of the day. On the women's side, the Cardinals had similar success, with eight wins being split among four players as the Cardinals beat Washington & Jefferson 129.5-76.5, while taking down Bethany 139-11. The senior leadership led the effort, with all the individual wins coming from returners as the Cardinals moved to 3-1 on the season.
On the men's side, it was Aris Dimakis leading the effort, finishing as the only Cardinal with multiple wins on the day. Dimakis would excel in the sprint events on the day, winning in both the 50-Yard Freestyle and the 50-Yard Backstroke. The Freestyle as up first, where Dimakis finished with a time of 22.23 seconds, beating out his teammate by .06 seconds. He would come back for the 50-Yard Backstroke, and earned his second gold medal with a time of 25.73 to round out the effort. The other three individual honors would be split between three different swimmers, with Meiko Schonekes, Felix Norlin, and Archie Pigott each winning events on the day. Schonekes picked up his first collegiate win in the 50-Yard Butterfly (23.96), Piggot would win the 200-Yard Individual Medley (2:04.10), and Norlin would take the 50-Yard Breaststroke (28.05) to round out the day.
For the women, it was senior Gabby Baiano leading the way with a pair of wins across both mid-distance and long distance events. Baiano's first win would come in the 1000-Yard Freestyle, where she swam a time of 11:05.46. She would take the crown by three seconds and came back later in the 200-Yard Freestyle and picked up her second win of the day. She would swim a time of 58.11, beating teammate Caitlin Oltman by .74 seconds, to round out her day. The other Cardinals to pick up multiple wins on the day were Niki Chrysafi, Lydie Specher, and Caitlin Oltman. It helped the Cardinals win all but one of the events that were swam at the tri-meet as they picked up their first tri-meet sweep of the season.
Saturday will mark the third tri-meet in a row for the Cardinals, dating back to their MEC opener against Frostburg State and West Virginia Wesleyan on October 11th. With only one loss combined between the two teams during that stretch, the Cardinals are making the most of their opportunities and are scoring points early. However, the road doesn't get any easier, with two conference teams still on the schedule before the annual mid-season meet, hosted by Malone University. In the early conference standings, the Men's Team sits atop the MEC standings with 507 points while the women sit third with 445.80 points through four events. Both teams will be looking to climb the conference ladder as they continue pushing towards the 2025 MEC/GMAC Swimming and Diving Championships.
The Matchups
Bethany: The Cardinals and Bison are meeting for the eighth time this season, with both programs leading the all-time series. The men are 6-2 against Bethany, while the women hold a perfect 8-0 mark. One of the men's two loses have come in their home pool, while the women have won each of the previous three meetings in the Alma Grace McDonough Center Natatorium. Both teams are averaging over 100 points in the all-time series, with the men averaging 105.12 points per game while the women are averaging 134.5 per meet. Both teams are meeting for the second time this year, with the men beating Bethany 143-6 while the women beat the Bison 139-11 back on October 15th.
Chatham: The Cardinals and Cougars are meeting for the second time in program history, with both the men's and women's teams leading the all-time series at 2-0. It will be the first time that the Cougars have come to the Alma Grace McDonough Center, with the Cardinals picking up one away win and one neutral site win. The men are averaging 108.0 points per meet against the Cougars, while the women average 123.5 points per game. The last meeting between the two programs came on October 26th, 2024, with the women picking up a 129-86 win, while the men took a 124-37 win.
The Details
First swims for Saturday's event are scheduled for 4 PM inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center Natatorium. You can watch the event live by clicking HERE.
