Garcia and Mears-Bentley Earn Athletes of the Week

Findlay, Ohio - On Monday, Dec. 5, the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) announced its weekly swim and dive Athlete of the Week awards. Findlay junior Daniel Garcia and freshman Emily Mears-Bentley earned the honor following a standout performance at the Calvin Winter Invite.

Garcia, who this season is arguably the top swimmer in Division II, added six wins to his growing resume this weekend. Garcia won the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:45.86 to meet the NCAA's A Standard which also broke the school record and conference record. In the 100-yard breaststroke, Garcia took first place with a time of 51.93, setting new pool, school, and conference records. That time is also the best in Division II this season and eighth-best in the country including Division I. Garcia's time is the third-best in Division II history. Garcia won again in the 200-yard breaststroke where he took first with a B standard and program record time of 1:55.94. That time is the second-best in DII this season and set new pool and meet records. In the prelims, Garcia swam in the 400 IM, an exhibition swim. In that event he finished in a time of 3:51.85 which set a new program record. Daniel Garcia then teamed up for the 400-yard medley relay as the team clocked in with a first place time of 3:09.73 to surpass the NCAA's B Standard. The squad also broke the school record by two seconds which was set last year. To round out his trip to Grand Rapids, Garcia joined in on the 200-yard medley relay where they took first place with a time of 1:25.38, a new school and pool record, an automatic qualifier to the NCAA championship, and the top time in Division II this season.

Mears-Bentley, who has become one of the top freshmen for the Oilers, started the weekend by winning the 50 yard freestyle final as she clocked in 23.33. Her time in the event met the NCAA's B Standard and tied the school record that was set by Amanda Stiegal in 2019. In the 100 fly, she took first place with a time of 54.64 which set a new pool and school record. She also led off the 800-yard freestyle relay and was able to swim her 200 yards in a time of 1:50.28, setting a new school record. In the 100 freestyle, Mears-Bentley took first place with a time of 50.52 which set a new school record, met the B standard, and is the fourth-best time in DII this season. She also teamed up for the 400 free relay to take second place with a time of 3:27.33 which also set a new program record.

This is Daniel Garcia and Emily Mears-Bentley's second G-MAC Athlete of the Week honor this season.