Season Preview: Males’s Swimming Pushes Profitable Tradition with Largest Roster Since Rebirth

Wheeling, W. Va. – As this system has begun its climb again to the highest of the swimming world, the Wheeling University Men’s Swimming group would set up a successful tradition in the course of the 2024-2025 season. The group broke the single-season twin meet win report, going 9-5, and added their first-ever Mountain East Conference (MEC) Individual Conference Champion. While their roster continues to develop, with 21 swimmers set to take the pool, the objective of constant to determine that successful tradition stays alive and effectively within the cloth of this system. 

During the 2024-2025 season, the Cardinals began their season on the West Virginia University video games, and would decide up their first MEC win of their subsequent occasion towards West Virginia Wesleyan. They would go on to win their subsequent six twin meets, and eight out of their final 10, and headed into the midseason invitational sitting at 8-2. They would find yourself taking sixth out of the 16 groups within the area on the midseason meet, and kicked off the second half with a twin meet towards Lenoir-Rhyne, the place they fell 136-47. Despite dropping meets to Fairmont State and Penn State Behrend, the Cardinals would find yourself breaking this system’s twin meet win report towards Alfred State on February 1st. They moved on to the MEC/Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) Swimming & Diving Championships, and completed fifth total and third amongst their MEC opponents. 

The Cardinals would earn 5 All-MEC honors ultimately yr’s occasion, together with their first-ever MEC Individual title, and regardless of that champion graduating, the Cardinals welcome again a number of robust leaders to take the reins this season. Leading the way in which this season will probably be senior Patrick Kirby, who has been a quiet chief for the Cardinals over the previous three seasons. He was part of two of the 5 All-MEC honors for the group final season, each of these coming within the relay occasions. He would function the third leg of the 200-Yard Freestyle Relay group that took Second Team All-MEC honors with a time of 1:27.05. He would come again on the third day of competitors and joined the 400-Yard Freestyle group that may take house Honorable Mention All-MEC honors with a time of three:13.59. 

A pair of sophomores who look to take their management to the following degree for the Cardinals are Evan Yost and Sarp Killic, who every performed huge roles for the Cardinals a season in the past. While he did not win an All-MEC honor ultimately yr’s occasion, Killic was a daily within the long-distance swims for the Cardinals. He was part of three of the 4 Cardinal relay title, swimming within the 400-Freestyle, 200-Freestyle, and the 800-Freestyle All-MEC successful  relay groups. Yost was swimming within the quick distance occasions for the Cardinals, however joined Killic on each the 800 and 400 Yard Freestyle groups a season in the past. Yost completed because the Cardinal’s prime backstroker from a season in the past and can look to proceed main that group in 2025-2026. 

Stepping in to guide the Cardinals in the course of the 2025-2026 season is Wheeling University Head Swimming Coach Will Hughes. Hughes has spent the final eight seasons within the collegiate teaching area, spending his most up-to-date stint with Emory & Henry College. In his two seasons with the Wasps, he helped construct each the boys’s and girls’s packages to new heights and appears for related success with the Cardinal swim groups. He brings with him plenty of younger expertise, with 12 of his 21 swimmers being in both their freshman or sophomore seasons. He seems to assist the Cardinals proceed to develop on the convention ladder as they attempt to construct in direction of this system’s first-ever MEC group Championship. 

As they enter the 2025-2026 season, the Cardinals will as soon as once more be beginning off their yr on the WVU Games. They then head into back-to-back tri meets towards Frostburg State and West Virginia Wesleyan on October eleventh and Bethany College and Chatham University at house on October twenty fifth. They would be the solely two tri meets of the yr for the group earlier than they end out the primary half in twin meet motion. They will head to the Malone Midseason invitational on November twentieth earlier than kicking the second half of their season off as soon as once more at Lenoir-Rhyne. Then, it’s a three meet dash to the end line, with Bethany and Fairmont State on back-to-back days earlier than they spherical out the common season schedule at house towards Bethany on January twenty fourth.   

The Wheeling University Men’s Swimming group begins the 2025-2026 season on Saturday, October 4th, once they head to the WVU Games with first swims starting at 10 AM.