DALLAS – Houston won its second straight women's title, while Cincinnati captured the men’s title at the 2018 American Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships at the Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center and Barr-McMillion Natatorium on the campus of Southern Methodist University on Saturday.
The Cougars came out on top of the women’s six-team standings with 826 points. Cincinnati followed in second place (663), while ECU (552), SMU (529), Tulane (401) and UConn (379) rounded out field. Houston’s Ryan Wochomurka was named The American Swimming Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season, while Kirtley Krombholz of Cincinnati was named Diving Coach of the Year.
The Bearcats finished atop the men’s standings with a final score of 906 points. ECU placed runner-up with 795 points, followed by SMU (795) and UConn (641). Cincinnati’s Mandy Commons-DiSalle was voted as the Swimming Coach of the Year, while Danan Schmidt earned the Diving Coach of the Year award.
SMU senior Matea Samardzic was named the Women’s Most Outstanding Swimmer of the Year for the second straight season. Samardzic collected three individual wins for the Mustangs. She set a meet record in the women’s 100-yard backstroke (52.75) on the third day of competition, to go with wins in the 200 back and the 400 IM.
The Men’s Most Outstanding Swimmer award went to SMU’s Jonathan Gomez for the second consecutive year. The senior took home the gold in the 500 freestyle (4:19.26), 200 butterfly (1:43.33) and the 400 IM (3:50.18). He accumulated 60 points for the Mustangs during the four-day championship.
SMU senior Bryce Klein and UConn senior Danny Kinney were named Men’s Co-Most Outstanding Divers of the Year. Klein capped his individual reign in the 1-meter and 3-meter, while Kinney turned in a first-place performance in the platform event. On the women’s side, Claire Schuermann of Cincinnati was named the Women’s Most Outstanding Diver of the Year. Schuermann collected gold medals in the 1-meter, silver in the 3-meter and bronze in the platform event.
Cincinnati’s Christopher Bready reset his own meet record by nearly six seconds for his fourth straight title. The senior finished with a first-place time of 14:54.88. Following Bready was teammates Din Selmanovic () and Tobias Van Dyke (). In the women’s race, Bearcats sophomore Patricia Roscoe touched the wall first (). Roscoe’s teammates Ellen Posch () and Claire Schuermann () followed.
ECU senior John Myhre claimed back-to-back titles in the men’s 100 freestyle (44.23). Cincinnati’s William Zigala (44.24) took home second, followed by teammate Victory Martins Dos Santos (44.43) in third.
Andrea Podmanikova of SMU took gold in the 200-yard breaststroke. Podmanikova finished her rookie campaign with a meet-record time of 2:09.29. Houston sophomore Angeliki Mavrantza (2:11.91) and senior Vendela Norman (2:12.80) placed second and third, respectively. In the men’s event, ECU freshman Jacek Arentewicz (1:54.55) broke the meet record by .04 to earn the individual title.
Houston walked away with the women’s 400-yard freestyle relay title. The Cougars team of Mykenzie Leehy, Ksenia Yuskova, Laura Laderoute and Zarena Brown won the race with a time of 3:18.56. In the men’s race, the ECU team comprised of Victor Martins Dos Santos, Maxine Cadiat, Gavin Erdmann and John Myhre covered the distance in 2:57.39 for the win.
FINAL WOMEN’S SCORES
| Houston |
826 |
| Cincinnati |
663 |
| ECU |
552 |
| SMU |
529 |
| Tulane |
401 |
| UConn |
379 |
FINAL MEN’s SCORES
| Cincinnati |
906 |
| ECU |
795 |
| SMU |
676 |
| UConn |
641 |
Women’s Most Outstanding Swimmer
Matea Samardzic, Sr., SMU
Women’s Most Outstanding Diver
Claire Schuermann, So., Cincinnati
Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year
Ryan Wochomurka, Houston
Women’s Diving Coach of the Year
Kirtley Krombholz, Cincinnati
Men’s Outstanding Swimmer
Jonathan Gomez, Sr., SMU
Men’s Co-Most Outstanding Diver
Bryce Klein, Sr., SMU and Danny Kinney, Sr., UConn
Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year
Mandy Commons-DiSalle, Cincinnati
Men’s Diving Coach of the Year
Darian Schmidt, SMU
Men’s Team Academic Excellence Award
SMU
Women’s Team Academic Excellence Award
SMU
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