HOUSTON (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV men's swimming and diving team won two event titles as part of a five-medal finals session on Thursday's second day of the WAC Championships at CRWC Natatorium.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY:
In the first event of the day, the Rebels' 200 free relay 'A' team of redshirt freshman Emil Perez, sophomores Wikus Potgieter and Ambrus Barcsak and senior Daniel Nicusan earned a bronze medal, posting a time of 1:18.19.
Claiming another podium finish for the Rebels, redshirt sophomore Colby Raffel took silver in 500 free with a time of 4:22.87.
Speeding his way to a league title in the 200 IM, Nicusan gave the Rebels their fourth consecutive title in the event and recorded the fastest time in school history at 1:43.96 seconds.
Taking another podium finish in the 200 IM, senior Cooper Kiel earned a bronze medal with a time of 1:44.86. Earlier in prelims, Kiel set a program record with a time of 1:44.86, which was later broken by Nicusan in the finals.
In the 3-meter dive, sophomore Alex Vazquez earned a gold medal (450.75), setting the WAC Championship meet record. He became the first Rebel to win the WAC title in the event while also making him the Scarlet & Gray's first conference champion in the event since 1987 when the team was in the Big West.
THE RUNDOWN:
- Joining Raffel in the 500 free, sophomore Hayden Lambert (4:23.32) and senior Andrew Navarro (4:25.76) placed fourth and sixth, respectively.
- Adding another top-8 finish in the 200 IM, junior Ian Belflower swam the fourth-fastest time in school history (1:45.77) to place fifth.
- In the Rebels 200 IM B final, senior Michael Breitbart won the heat and placed ninth overall (1:48.02).
UP NEXT: The championship continues on Friday 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
Thursday, February 27
Day Two Results
Top-8 Finishes
200 free relay – 3rd place - 1:18.19 (Perez, Potgieter, Barcsak, Nicusan)
500 free – 2nd place - 4:22.87 (Raffel), 4th place - 4:23.32 (Lambert), 6th place - 4:25.76 (Navarro)
200 IM – 1st place - 1:43.96 (Nicusan), 3rd place - 1:44.86 (Kiel), 5th place - 1:45.77 (Belflower)
3-meter – 1st place - 450.75 (Vazquez), 6th place - 329.25 (Tereshchenko)
-UNLV-
