Diving Back In: Swimming & Diving Makes a Splash at La Salle

The UMBC Swimming & Diving squad makes a return to the water for the first time since December 7 as it travels to Philadelphia to compete against La Salle on Friday at 12 p.m.

During their last outing, Anders Logas claimed victory in the Men’s 3 Meter event, while Alicia Buteau achieved a notable second place in the Women’s 3 Meter as the UMBC Diving team showcased a strong performance against the visiting teams from Loyola and Towson on Saturday morning.

“I felt thrilled to host our inaugural dive invitational during my time at UMBC,” stated head Diving Coach Jeff Fisher. “Our divers experienced a mix of achievements during the competition, featuring some top-tier performances alongside a few frustrating letdowns. A number of our competitors are battling through injuries and striving to enhance their competitive mindset. That said, we still witnessed impressive dives and several personal record scores. We view this event broadly as an excellent learning experience—another chance to refine our skills and bolster our capacity to compete at the highest level achievable. Our divers are in a solid position at this juncture in the season, and we anticipate being in an even better position entering the latter part of the season and the Conference Championships.”

Logas triumphed in the 3 Meter event with a score of 266.95, while Grant Moore secured third place with a score of 248.95. Alicia Buteau achieved a score of 241.10, earning her second place, and she also attained fourth place in the 1 Meter with a score of 234.75. Kaleb Cave finished second in the Men’s 1 Meter with a score of 279.95.

On the swimming front that day, Boris Milev shattered a 21-year-old pool record set by Michael Phelps as the UMBC Men’s Swimming team reset seven distinct pool records.

Cave and Milev received accolades from the America East Conference on Tuesday afternoon. Cave was honored as Diver and Rookie of the Week, while Milev was recognized as Swimmer of the Week.

Cave finished second in the 1-meter diving event with a personal best of 279.95, while Milev was involved in three pool records, including a new record for the 100 free of 44.74, surpassing Michael Phelps’ 21-year-old pool record.

Milev also initiated the 400 Free Relay and his 100 time of 44.74 broke Phelps’ UMBC Aquatic Complex record of 45.11 that had been in place since 2003. He was joined in the relay by Sean Neils, Christian Coleman, and Bode Neale to finish in a new pool record time of 3:00.23, breaking the former record of 3:02.66 set by UMBC in 2020.

“Our pool has an extensive history filled with Olympic Champions and world record holders,” remarked head coach Matt Donovan. “To compete alongside them today is an immense honor. This team excels at embracing challenges. Achieving ten for ten (overall) on pool relay records was a formidable task, and we accomplished it. This was a complete team effort. Every member contributed to our success today. I could not be prouder of this group. What a remarkable day to be a Retriever!”

In the opening event of the meet, the 200 Medley Relay team consisting of Ryan Harding, Coleman, Oliver Gassmann, and Neils clinched victory in 1:28.76, surpassing the previous mark of 1:30.40 set by UMBC in 2018.

Milev would again break a pool record when leading off a relay, as his opening 200 Free time in the 800 Free Relay of 1:38.31 reset the top mark previously held by Ilya Rattsev’s 1:39.62 in 2020. Andrew McEachern, Neale, and Marko Kovacic would follow Milev in the relay to establish a new pool record time of 6:39.45, crushing the prior record of 6:44.84 set by UMBC in 2020.

Neils, Coleman, Gassmann, and Neale would set a new pool record in the 200 Free Relay with a time of 1:21.93, which was previously held by UMBC in 2022 (1:22.98).

In the very next event, Kovacic, Coleman, Gassmann, and Milev would then set a new pool record in the 400 Medley Relay with a time of 3:18.60, beating the mark set by UMBC in 2020 of 3:21.64.

On the Women’s side, the Dawgs achieved five for five in breaking UMBC Aquatic Complex pool records.

The first race of the day broke the first record of the day as Bruna de Padua, Elze Bielskute, Nicol Davanzo, and Ashley Gutshall won the 200 Medley Relay in 1:43.80, surpassing the previous mark of 1:45.30 set by UMBC in 2015.

Shortly after, de Padua, Nicole Lopez Kohlmann, Megan Gangaway, and Claire Oettinger set the 800 Free Relay pool record in a time of 7:35.12, exceeding the previous best of 7:37.92 set in 2005 by New Hampshire.

Gutshall, Lopez Kohlmann, Oettinger, and Makaela Hill would then break the pool record in the 200 Free Relay with a time of 1:34.42, formerly held by the 2005 New Hampshire team who finished in 1:36.32.

In the very next event, de Padua, Bielskute, Davanzo, and Hill established a new 400 Medley Relay record with a time of 3:48.49, surpassing the previous best of 3:50.00 set by UMBC in 2019.

The final record of the day was set in the last event as de Padua, Hill, Gutshall, and Oettinger completed the 400 Free Relay in 3:24.83, obliterating the previous pool best mark of 3:29.20 set by Navy in 2015.