PHARR, Texas (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV men's swimming and diving team secured its fourth consecutive WAC Championship after setting a conference meet record with 972 points Saturday at City of Pharr Natatorium. With their final point total, the Rebels surpassed their own previous record of 907 points during the squad's 2021 championship run.
In the last finals session of the weekend, the Rebels won gold medals in five more events, including a second straight 400 free relay title to complete a sweep of all five conference relays.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY:
Opening up the night's onslaught of victory swims, freshman
Tatsuki Inoue kept the Scarlet & Gray win streak alive in the 200 back with the program's fifth straight individual title in the event. He climbed the school's all-time record chart in the event up to fifth with a 1:43.58.
Following that up, senior
George Ratiu earned his second gold medal of the meet in the 100 free with a 43.09-second swim. It marked the Rebels' first 100 free conference championship since Mark Theall grabbed the hardware in 2018.
Redshirt freshman
Colby Raffel added the school's first 200 fly championship since Avi Cohen in 2015 as he swam the second-fastest time in program history at 1:43.89. He became just the third UNLV swimmer to dip below 1:44.00 in the event, coming up barely shy of Bart Pippenger's 34-year school record of 1:43.54.
In the final race of the four-day meet, Ratiu (42.78),
Bryson Huey (42.88), Cam Castro (42.68) and
Steven Butler (43.31) won the program's third consecutive 400 free relay title with a season-best time of 2:51.65.
UNLV never left its lead in jeopardy as it finished with a 329-point margin of victory over runner-up Grand Canyon with 643 points.
THE RUNDOWN:
*As part of a 1-2 finish in the 200 back, freshman
Wikus Potgieter (1:43.69) touched only 11-hundredths of a second after Inoue for the silver medal.
*Gliding their way onto the podium in the 1650 free were freshman
Hayden Lambert (15:18.03) with the silver medal and junior
Andrew Navarro (15:21.96) with the bronze. Lambert made his way up the school record chart into ninth, while Navarro had a season-best swim in the event.
*Competing alongside Ratiu in the 100 free 'A' final, Huey (43.62), Butler (43.86) and Castro (43.97) finished fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, before they teamed up for the 400 free relay victory.
*Junior
Adnan Beji had a podium finish in the breaststroke for the second night in a row, taking the silver in the 200 breast (1:54.38). He medaled after improving his prelims time by 2.01 seconds in finals.
*Behind Beji in the 200 breast, junior
Michael Breitbart (1:56.79) took fourth with a new personal best and freshman
Nate Thomason followed in fifth with his own personal record. Additionally, Thomason moved up to seventh in program history.
*Earning spots in the 200 fly 'A' final, the Rebels received a seventh-place finish from junior
Dominik Bujak (1:49.33) and an eighth-place finish from
Andrew Navarro (1:50.60).
QUOTABLE: "I'm really proud to coach this squad and to win another title with this amazing coaching staff. While we left a few goals accomplished, the depth of this squad was pretty overpowering and it was a well-deserved win for these guys."
- UNLV Head Coach Ben Loorz
2024 Western Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Championships
City of Pharr Natatorium
Pharr, Texas
Saturday, March 2
Final Day Results
Top-8 Finishes
1650 Free - 2nd place - 15:18.03 (
Hayden Lambert),
3rd - 15:21.96 (
Andrew Navarro)
200 Back - 1st place - 1:43.58 (
Tatsuki Inoue) 2nd place - 1:43.69 (
Wikus Potgieter)
100 Free - 1st place - 43.09 (
George Ratiu),
4th place - 43.62 (
Bryson Huey),
5th place - 43.86 (
Steven Butler),
6th place - 43.97 (Cam Castro)
200 Breast - 2nd place - 1:54.38 (
Adnan Beji),
4th place - 1:56.79 (
Michael Breitbart), 5th place - 1:56.82 (
Nate Thomason)
200 Fly - 1st - 1:43.89 (
Colby Raffel),
7th place - 1:49.33 (
Dominik Bujak),
8th place - 1:50.60 (
Andrew Navarro)
400 Free Relay - 1st place - 2:51.65 (Ratiu, Huey, Castro, Butler)
