Tri-Meet Showdown: Asbury and Tennessee Southern Dive into the Pool!

COLUMBIA, Ky. – Following a nearly two-month hiatus from competition, the Lindsey Wilson men’s and women’s swim squads are prepared to return to the pool at 11 a.m. CST on Saturday, January 18, to host Asbury (Ky.) and Tennessee Southern.

The Blue Raiders last took part in competition in late November at the Total Performance Invitational, conducted by Kenyon College (Ohio), where a total of 16 school records were shattered, and nine NAIA “A”-cut standards were achieved.

On the women’s front, Maaike Broersma, Kirsten de Goede, and Nathalie Medina set three individual program records each and played vital roles in Lindsey Wilson’s five record-setting relays along with Sara Motyl, Hannah Woyscheszik, and Natalia Gorska.

Broersma currently holds the fastest times in the NAIA for the 50-yard freestyle and the 100 and 200-yard backstrokes. De Goede is leading in the 100-yard freestyle, and regarding relays, the Blue Raider women are ranked first in the nation in the 200 and 400-yard freestyle.

As of Saturday, Motyl sits 1.97 seconds behind Ronni Borders’ nine-year-old record in the 100-yard breaststroke, while Natascha Evreinoff requires 1.62 seconds trimmed from her time in the 100-yard butterfly to surpass Alexis Kessler’s all-time record set in 2018.

On the men’s side, Max van Schagen, Sergio Ybarra, and Dan Spinola achieved individual school records in Ohio. Ybarra’s time of 15:27.55 in the 1,650-yard freestyle is currently the best in the NAIA. However, Saturday will not include the mile-long swim. Instead, the longest event will be the 1,000-yard freestyle, an event Ybarra established the program record for on October 12, 2024.

Van Schagen’s record occurred in the 50-yard freestyle – 20.76 seconds – surpassing his previous record set on November 16, 2023. The junior is merely 0.54 seconds shy of Calvin Coetzee’s best time in the 100-yard freestyle.

Spinola broke the 100-yard breaststroke record by 0.03 seconds and became only the second swimmer in program history to swim the event in under 56 seconds.

Another race to keep an eye on for the men is the 100 and 200-yard backstrokes. Dario Soria’s best time of 50.86 in the shorter event is just 0.37 seconds short of Will Thilwind’s record.

Saturday marks the first encounter between Lindsey Wilson and Asbury since October 21, 2022. Both the men’s and women’s Blue Raider teams have claimed victory in back-to-back duals against the Eagles. In contrast, Tennessee Southern has faced Lindsey Wilson three times, and the Blue Raiders have emerged victorious in each meeting.

Live coverage of Saturday’s competition will be presented by the Lindsey Wilson Sports Network. Real-time results will be accessible on lindseyathletics.com.