HOUSTON (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV men's swimming and diving team earned two gold medals and set two school records on Wednesday's opening night of WAC Championships at CRWC Natatorium.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY:
In a come from behind victory, the Scarlet & Gray 200 medley relay 'A' team of sophomore Wikus Potgieter (21.60), senior Adnan Beji (23.21), redshirt freshman Emil Perez (20.62) and senior Daniel Nicusan (19.03) posted the fastest time in school history (1:24.46) and won a third consecutive WAC title in the event.
In another dominant relay finish, the Rebels' 800 free relay team of freshman Kiril Stepanov, sophomore Ambrus Barcsak, redshirt sophomore Colby Raffel and senior Cooper Kiel earned a gold medal in the event (6:23.17) with the fifth-fastest time in program history.
In the 1-meter dive, sophomore Alex Vazquez broke his own school record during prelims (389.95). Later in the finals, he earned a bronze medal, posting a score of 386.80.
Adding another top-8 finish in the 1-meter dive, senior Dima Tereshchenko posted a fifth-place score of 324.50.
QUOTABLE: "Tonight was a great start. Winning two relays, having two top-8 divers and two new school records was the start we needed. I'm looking forward to more of our guys competing tomorrow."
-UNLV Head Coach Pat Ota
UP NEXT: The championship meet picks back up Thursday with prelims at 8:30 a.m. PT and finals at 4 p.m. PT.
2025 Western Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Championships
CRWC Natatorium at the University of Houston
Houston, Texas
Wednesday, February 26
Day One Results
Team Scoring
1. Cal Baptist - 124
2. UNLV - 110
3. Air Force - 98
4. Wyoming - 72
5. Seattle - 56
6. Grand Canyon - 49
Top-8 Finishes
200 medley relay – 1st place - 1:24.46 (Potgieter, Beji, Perez, Nicusan)
1-meter – 3rd place - 386.80 (Vazquez), 5th place - 324.50 (Tereshchenko)
800 free relay – 1st place - 6:23.17 (Stepanov, Barcsak, Raffel, Kiel)
-UNLV-
