Males’s Swimming & Diving: Bylow breaks document twice, Cadets declare all eight occasions, vault to Day 1 lead at GNAC Championships

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Norwich University males’s swimming & diving group wasted no time asserting dominance on the 2026 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championships, capturing first place in all eight occasions on Friday to surge to a 160.0-point lead on the WPI Sports & Recreation Center.

The Cadets maintain a 95-point cushion over second-place University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) after Day 1 of the three-day meet, as they chase a fourth-straight GNAC crown and the seventh in program historical past.

The night finals have been highlighted by a record-breaking efficiency from Drew Bylow (Monroe, Mich.), who shattered the GNAC 200-yard backstroke document for the second time in sooner or later.  After breaking the 2022 mark in prelims with a 1:57.39, Bylow lowered it once more to 1:56.83 within the finals, claiming the occasion title and including to a four-win evening that additionally included the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:47.32), swimming the lead leg of the 200-yard medley relay, and anchoring the first-place 400-yard freestyle relay.

The Cadets kicked off the evening with a victory within the 200-yard medley relay, as Bylow, Max Ansell (Red Bank, N.J.), Andrew Clark (Acworth, Ga.), and Adrian Riendeau (Ridgecrest, Calif.) mixed for a time of 1:39.67 to earn 18 group factors and set the tone for the night.

Riendeau returned to the pool to dominate the 400-yard particular person medley, posting a finals time of 4:31.94 to win by practically 17 seconds.  The Cadets swept the rostrum within the occasion, with Anthony Helmer (Morristown, N.J.) and Henry Villanueva (New Rochelle, N.Y.) putting second and third, respectively.

Clark added a win of his personal within the 50-yard butterfly, clocking in at 24.30, whereas Kristian Adlianitski (Cheshire, Conn.) broke via within the 100-yard breaststroke, ending first with a 57.57, lower than half a second off the GNAC document.

Norwich’s distance dominance continued within the 1000-yard freestyle, the place Alex Sulyma (Warwick, R.I.) and John Connor Hallstrom (Bethany, Conn.) went 1-2 in a tightly contested last.  Sulyma touched in at 9:59.58, whereas Hallstrom adopted simply behind at 10:00.02.  Helmer accomplished the Cadet sweep of the rostrum in third.

To cap the night, Adlianitski, Clark, Riendeau, and Bylow mixed to take first within the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of three:16.62, holding off the University of Saint Joseph and Regis College to shut out a dominant opening day.

LEADERS:

• 200 Yard Medley Relay
• 400 Yard IM
• 200 Yard Freestyle
• 50 Yard Butterfly
• 100 Yard Breaststroke
• 200 Yard Backstroke
• 1000 Yard Freestyle
• 400 Yard Freestyle Relay

Throughout sooner or later of championship competitors, Norwich leads the group standings with:

1. Norwich – 160.0
2. Saint Joseph (Conn.) – 65
3. Regis (Mass.) – 46
4. Elms – 8
5. Albertus Magnus – 4

Championship motion resumes Saturday with one other full slate of preliminaries and finals, because the Cadets look to construct on their robust begin.  Preliminaries are slated to start at 10:00 a.m., with finals scheduled for six:00 p.m.