2018 NAIA National Championships – Men’s Meet
- Dates: Wednesday, February 28 – Saturday, March 3; prelims 9 am, finals 5 pm
- Location: Columbus Aquatic Center, Columbus, Georgia (Eastern Time Zone)
- Defending Champions: Olivet Nazarene University (results)
- Psych Sheet
- Live Results: Available here
- Live Video: Available here
- Championship Central
Men’s 200 Yard Freestyle Relay – Finals
- Meet Record: 1:18.43, 2014, Oklahoma Baptist University (L Lassley, R Robbins, D Ramirez, G Sullivan)
- Keiser 1:20.48
- Olivet Nazarene 1:21.83
- Thomas 1:22.55
Top-seeded Keiser University took 3 seconds off their prelims time, blasting a 1:20.48 in finals to win by 1.35 seconds. Sophomore Marcel Nagy (20.33), freshman N’Nhyn Fernander (20.31), sophomore Lukas Macek (20.14), and junior Andrei Stukov (19.70) combined for the winning 1:20.48. ONU’s Daniil Kuzmin (20.97), Charles Bennett (20.60), Guilherme Magnoler (20.25), and Iran Cavalcante- Almeida (20.01) came in second with 1:21.83. Third place went to Thomas’ Alex Haymond (20.73), Ethan Bainbridge (20.88), Victor Dos Santos (20.95), and Perry Lindo (19.99), who combined for 1:22.55.
Men’s 500 Yard Freestyle – Finals
- Meet Record: 4:20.35, 2017, Joel Thatcher, SCAD
- Niels Engeln, Lindenwood-Belleville 4:30.81
- Wyatt Engler, Keiser 4:31.16
- Joshua Bouma, Olivet Nazarene 4:31.70
Keiser senior Wyatt Engler took it out quickly and, along with Vinny Lijoi of Thomas, held a slight lead throughout the first 300 yards of the race. It was still anyone’s race at the 300, though, and the 7th 50 is when Lindenwood-Belleville’s Niels Engeln made his move. Engeln came home a half-second faster over the last 100 than the rest of the field and that was all he needed to break away. Engeln stopped the clock at 4:30.81, just .35 ahead of Engler. ONU’s Joshua Bouma, swimming in lane 4, finished third in 4:31.70. Lijoli tied with Xavier Bordes Adell of ONU for fourth.
Men’s 200 Yard Individual Medley – Finals
- Meet Record: 1:47.55, 2011, David Hibberd, Simon Fraser
- Lukas Macek, Keiser 1:48.31
- Daniil Kuzmin, Olivet Nazarene 1:49.86
- Martin du Teilleul, Lindenwood 1:51.31
Keiser made up a lot of ground on points leader Olivet Nazarene in the 200 IM. With three A finalists, the Seahawks came within 5.5 points of the Tigers at the end of this event. Keiser sophomore Lukas Macek had the slight lead after the fly leg, but ONU’s Daniil Kuzmin, runner-up in the IM last year, pulled even after the backstroke. Macek outsplit Kuzmin by more than a second in the breaststroke, and by 4/10 over the freestyle leg. He ended up winning 1:48.31 to 1:49.86, dominating the second half of the race. Lindenwood-Belleville freshman Martin du Teilleul led the rest of the field and took third with 1:51.31.
Men’s 50 Yard Freestyle – Finals
- Meet Record: 19.71, 2014, Logan H Lassley, Oklahoma Baptist
- Perry Lindo, Thomas 20.15
- Andrei Stukov, Keiser 20.27
- Iran Cavalcante- Almeida, Olivet Nazarene 20.57
2017 champion Perry Lindo of Thomas, who had qualified sixth out of the morning heats, successfully defended his title with 20.15 from lane 7. Top-seeded Andrei Stukov of Keiser took second in 20.27, while ONU freshman Cavalcante-Almeida edged SCAD freshman Zoltan Monori, 20.57 to 20.60, for third.
Men’s 400 Yard Medley Relay – Finals
- Meet Record: 3:12.88, 2014, Oklahoma Baptist University (D Ramirez, G Penny, G Sullivan, L Lassley)
- Keiser 3:14.95
- Olivet Nazarene 3:18.23
- SCAD 3:19.91
Top-seeded Keiser dropped just over 7 seconds from their prelims swim to win the 400 medley relay in a dominant 3:14.95. Nagy (48.37), Macek (53.85), Fernander (47.44), and Stukov (45.29) contributed to the win. The relay win was enough to put the Seahawks on top of the standings for the first time in the meet.
ONU came in second with Kuzmin (51.51), Magnoler (54.93), Cavalcante-Almeida (46.93), and Bennett (44.86). SCAD trailed by 1.7 seconds with Brogan Bunner (50.48), Anton Arvidsson (55.74), Gergo Zachar (48.69), and Monori (45.00).
Men’s Scores After Day Two
- Keiser University 211
- Olivet Nazarene University 207.5
- SCAD Savannah 153
- Lindenwood Belleville 131
- Thomas University 126.5
- WVUTech 94
- College of Idaho 84
- Loyola New Orleans 80
- University of the Cumberlands 79
- Lindsey Wilson College 59
- Union College 57
- Asbury University 33 / St Ambrose 33
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- Morningside College Swimming 24
- Midland University 8
- Life University 5
- Bethel University 4 / Campbellsville University 4
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- Milligan College 2
“The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., is a governing body of small athletics programs that are dedicated to character-driven intercollegiate athletics.
In 2000, the NAIA reaffirmed its purpose to enhance the character building aspects of sport. Through Champions of Character, the NAIA seeks to create an environment in which every student-athlete, coach, official and spectator is committed to the true spirit of competition through five core values.”