CCIW runner-up finish for men’s swim and dive team

February 22 2018
The Wheaton Men’s Swimming team competed in the CCIW swimming championships from Feb. 15 — Feb. 17. The men took home second place with a total team score of 863.5 points, trailing behind Carthage College’s 1,052. At the conclusion of the meet, freshman Will Rinne was named CCIW Men’s Co-swimmer of the Meet.
Junior Tyler Yates was the only Wheaton men’s diver to compete at the CCIW Diving Championships. He placed third, earning All-CCIW honors, in the three meter dive (303.90) and fourth in the one-meter dive (340.10). Yates gained 31 points for the Thunder, placing them in second before the start of the Swimming Championships.
The men came out with a bang on Thursday, posting two CCIW open records and winning three of the five events. In the first event, the 200-yard freestyle relay team, comprised of senior Jack O’Connor, junior Chris Szymczak, and freshmen Christian Cameron and Will Rinne, claimed first place with a time of 1:22.43, breaking the CCIW open record and qualifying as an NCAA B-cut time. Rinne also went on to win the 200-yard IM with an NCAA select time of 1:50.27, breaking the CCIW meet and open records.
O’Connor and Cameron ended up with the first (20.83) and second (21.02) place finishes in the 50-yard freestyle, respectively. O’Connor came into the race with the top CCIW time for the 50-yard free and got a season-best in the championships. The 400-yard medley relay took second place with a time of 3:20.73, earning an NCAA B-cut time. Sophomores Logan McDaniel (4:48.02) and Micah Kimel (4:48.83) and junior Connor Perry (4:55.26) swam the 500-yard freestyle and placed fifth, sixth and eighth place finishes, respectively.
Finishing out the second day of competition, the Thunder men sat in second place with 575 points — behind only Carthage’s 750. The men continued to put up NCAA times and break CCIW records. The 200-yard medley relay team took the first win of night with a time of 1:32.31, beating the existing meet record. The relay team was comprised of Szymczak, Rinne, Cameron and O’Connor. The men also saw success in the 800-yard freestyle relay team, made up of Kimel, McDaniel, junior Daniel Deysher and senior Chris Dingfield. The four finished in second place with a time of 7:01.63.
Szymczak went on to defend his CCIW Championship in the 100-yard backstroke with an NCAA B-cut time of 49.57 seconds. Junior Stephen Larson (53.41) and senior Addison Coen (53.62) qualified for the “A” final heat as well and finished seventh and eighth in the 200-backstroke, respectively. Rinne won the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 49.00 seconds, an NCAA B-cut time and Wheaton program record. Senior Chris Dingfield followed closely behind with a second-place time of 50.61 seconds. Cameron finished in third (50.85), sweeping the top three spots for Wheaton in the event. Szymczak swam the sprint butterfly event as well and finished in sixth place with a time of 51.35 seconds. McDaniel (4:11.44), freshman Josh Dull (4:22.37), Perry (4:23.41) and freshman Joe Kim (4:24.51) all place in the top eight in the 400-yard individual medley, placing in second, fifth, sixth and eighth respectively.
In the final day of competition, the Wheaton men were unable to topple Carthage, placing in second for the CCIW championships. The men’s relay teams had one last show of dominance, winning the 400-yard freestyle relay. Szymczak, Rinne, Cameron and O’Connor came together to set a new meet record of 3:02.61, earning an NCAA select time. Szymczak also won the 200-yard backstroke with an NCAA B-cut time of 1:48.42, marking the third consecutive year that he’s swept the 100 and 200 backstroke CCIW titles. O’Connor and Cameron each went on to finish third (46.58) and fourth (47.36) place in the 100-yard freestyle, respectively.
Dingfield claimed the CCIW Championship title in the 200-yard butterfly with an NCAA B-cut of 1:51.80, barely finishing before Rinne (1:52.92), who earned second. Junior Matthew Rueger and Kim finished fifth (2:01.68) and seventh (2:04.46), respectively. McDaniel and Kimel placed in the top eight in the meet’s longest event: 1,650-yard freestyle. McDaniel finished fourth in 16:49.27, while Kimel finished sixth in 17:11.64.