Wheeling, W. Va. - The 2025-2026 Wheeling University Men's Swimming team wrote their name in the history books this past season, setting the single-season dual meet win record with a sweep over Fairmont State and Bethany College on Friday. On Monday, the program was honored for their accomplishment when the Mountain East Conference (MEC) released their Weekly Player of the Week awards, presented by The Healthplan. Freshman Swimmer Segmen Duygun was named the conference's Male Swimmer of the Week, after leading the Cardinals to the historic effort.
Duygun was the Cardinal's leading scorer at the tri-meet event, putting up a team-best 509.5 points across three races. Usually specializing in the distance events, Duygun showed his versatility, dipping into the mid-distance side of the event. He would swim in two individual events, competing in both the 500-Yard Freestyle and the 200-Yard Butterfly, picking up wins in both of those events. He would round out his day swimming in the 400-Yard Freestyle Relay, where he helped the Cardinals finish third overall. He would end up setting one PR on the day, coming in the Butterfly, and finished 18 points behind Fairmont State's Vlad Fedoseev for the top scorer in the event.
Duygun would get the individual events going on the men's side, hitting the pool for the first time in the 500-Yard Freestyle. It would be the freshman's biggest win of the day, as he put up a time of 5:01.44, beating out the rest of the field by just under 18 seconds. It would end up falling just under 18 seconds short of his personal best in the event, but he was able to hit that PR mark the next time he hit the pool. It would come in the 200-Yard Butterfly, where he beat out his old PR by just over a second and a half. He swam a time of 2:01.48, coming in just under five seconds faster than Fairmont State's George Ferguson, to set the new PR. He would round out the day as the opening leg of Wheeling's C Group for the 4X400 Freestyle Relay. Duygun would start things strong as his team posted a time of 3:33.71 to round out the effort.
For Duygun, it is the second time that he has taken home MEC Male Swimmer of the Week honors, previously winning the award back on October 6th. It is the 28th time this season that a Wheeling University student-athlete has earned a conference player of the week honor, and the third time a Wheeling Men's Swimmer has taken home the award. The last Cardinal to be honored was Wheeling Wrestler Jack Dinwiddie, who earned the MEC's Wrestler of the Week back on January 5th.
Dugyun and the Wheeling University Men's Swimming team returns to action on Tuesday, February 10th, when they compete on day one of the 2026 MEC/GMAC Swimming & Diving Championships.
