16 Athletes Heading to Indianapolis for Swimming & Diving National Championship
NCAA DII Swimming & Diving Championships Page
Indianapolis, Ind. – The NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Committee announced on Wednesday the qualifiers for the 2023 NCAA DII Swimming and Diving National Championships. The event will be held March 7-11 in Indianapolis, Ind. In total, 16 athletes will make the trip to Indianapolis and have earned the right to don the Orange and Black in the Indiana University Natatorium.
Men
The University of Findlay men's squad, ranked seventh in the country, will look to make another strong performance at the meet after finishing in ninth at nationals a season ago. This season, the Oilers doubled up the number of attendees from last year, sending a total of ten athletes, eight of which earned spots in individual events and two others who will go for relays. Last season, Findlay earned a top-ten finish with just three individuals and a pair of relay swimmers.
Headlining the men's side of the event is a trio of swimmers that scored major points for the Oilers last season and have become three of the biggest names in Division II swimming. Those three are Tim Stollings, Daniel Garcia, and Camilo Marrugo.
Stollings, earning his fourth trip to the National Championship meet, will swim in three individual events including the 100 backstroke, the 50 freestyle, and the 100 butterfly. A ten-time all-American and 100 fly national champion already, the Prichard, W. Va. native looks to add to what has been a marvelous career.
With all that Stollings has done, Daniel Garcia is busy writing his own legacy and could add to that with a big-time performance in two weeks. A three-time all-American, Garcia has an opportunity to make some noise as he will swim in four individual events including the 100 breaststroke, the 200 breaststroke, the 200 individual medley, and the 400 individual medley. He enters the meet as the fastest in Division II in the 100 breast and second-fastest in the 200 breast. He is also third in the 200 IM and eighth in the 400 IM, making his potential for scoring points incredibly high.
Great Midwest Swimmer of the Meet, Camilo Marrugo, is also ready for another trip to nationals after securing four all-American awards last season. He qualified in three events, the 200 and 100 butterfly events and the 50 freestyle. Marrugo is ranked top-ten in the country in all three of those events, with his highest ranking coming in the 200 fly where he is fourth.
Adding to those three will be Luca Chiandussi who has qualified in a pair of events, both the 100 and 200 breaststroke. Chiandussi is entering the event ranked third in the country in the 100 breast giving Findlay a solid chance at stacking the top of the podium in that event. Also swimming in the 200 breaststroke will be junior Marko Priednieks who is ranked ninth in that event.
Dags Bregis, a two-time all-American last season, will swim in the 100 free.
Freshmen Matteo Filippi and Bruce Keener will make their debuts at nationals this year. Filippi will swim in the 1650 freestyle where he is Findlay's record-holder while Keener will participate in the 100 backstroke, entering the meet ranked 14th in the country.
Making the trip as members of Findlay's relay squads will be Zein Kawas and Angel Margaritov, who made the trip to nationals last season, as well. Findlay will compete in four of the five relays in the meet including the 200 and 400 freestyle relays and the 200 and 400 medley relays.
Women
Findlay's women, ranked 19th in the country, will send a total of six athletes, three individuals and three others as part of relay teams.
While the men's team is loaded with returners who have national championship experience and all-American awards, Findlay's women will send three athletes for individual events that have no experience at the meet that is pinnacle to their sport. In total, of the six women headed to Indianapolis are in their first or second year in college swimming.
For the Oilers, the top name to watch is freshman phenom Emily Mears-Bentley who is coming off of a Great Midwest Championship where she won gold in all four events in which she competed. She has earned the right to swim in the 100 butterfly and the 50, 100, and 200 yard freestyle. Her top seed comes in the 100 butterfly where she is ranked 11th in the country.
Sophomore Sasha Melnyk will participate in the 100 backstroke and is ranked 18th in the country in that event while freshman Katie Susi earned her way into the 200 breaststroke event where she is ranked 16th.
Sydney Jones (So.), Macy May (So.), and Troie Grubbs (Fr.) will all participate in the lone relay for the Oilers. The qualifying relay is the 200 freestyle where Findlay enters ranked 13th in the country.