2023 WIAC Men's Swimming & Diving Championship Preview

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point will strive for a 23rd consecutive title at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Men’s Swimming & Diving Championship (presented by Culver’s) that will be held at Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center in Brown Deer, Wis., Feb. 15-18. UW-Oshkosh is the host institution for the 60th edition of the men’s championship that will be held in unison with the 51st gathering of the women’s teams.
 
Competition begins on Feb. 15 at 1:45 p.m., with the preliminaries of the women’s three-meter diving. The finals will start at 6:30 p.m., and include a pair of relay events. For competition held Feb. 16 and Feb. 17, preliminaries will begin at 10:00 a.m., with the finals commencing at 6:30 p.m. The final day will feature 10:00 a.m. preliminaries and a 6:00 p.m. start for the finals. Medals will be awarded to the top-eight finishers in each of the individual events and the individuals comprising the top-three relay teams.
 
In 2022, the Pointers captured the 25th WIAC championship in program archives with 932 points to slip past UW-Eau Claire’s second-place total of 930 points. UW-La Crosse finished third with 649 points, UW-Whitewater fourth with 332 and UW-Oshkosh fifth with 205. The two-point margin of victory matched the closest in league archives. In 1969, UW-La Crosse won the championship with 99 points, while UW-Superior was second with 97.
 
UW-Stevens Point’s 25 titles are tied with UW-Eau Claire for the most in conference history, while UW-La Crosse has collected four team championships. Former programs to win titles include: UW-Platteville (4) and UW-Milwaukee (1). This year’s championship features 10 student-athletes that have combined to win eight individual and 18 relay first-place medals at previous league meets.
 
UW-Stevens Point’s Owen Miller, the reigning WIAC Newcomer of the Year, is the defending champion in the 50-yard freestyle, while Evan Plummer was victorious in three-meter diving.
 
At the 2020 championship, the Pointers’ Jacob Larsen won the 100-yard butterfly and helped the 400-yard freestyle relay and 200-yard medley relay teams to victory, while Will Lennertz contributed to the triumphant 800-yard freestyle relay team. Larsen was tabbed the conference’s Newcomer of the Year for the 2019-20 season.
 
UW-Eau Claire’s Sam Ryf is the most decorated returnee with two individual and six relay first-place finishes. He is the defending champion in the 500-yard freestyle and 200-yard butterfly, and contributed to the winning 200-yard freestyle relay, 400-yard freestyle relay, 800-yard freestyle relay and 400-yard medley relay a year ago. At the 2020 championship, Ryf was a member of the first-place 200-yard freestyle relay and 400-yard medley relay. He established a conference meet record of 1:39.58 in the 200-yard freestyle last year as the leadoff leg of the 800-yard freestyle relay.
 
The Blugolds’ Benjamin Keller was victorious in the 1,650-yard freestyle, 400-yard individual medley and 800-yard freestyle relay last season. He set a conference meet record with a time of 3:58.96 in the 400-yard individual medley. Keller received WIAC Newcomer of the Year recognition in 2020-21.
 
Quincy Kabe captured the one-meter diving competition in 2022 and claimed Diver of the Meet accolades.
 
Alex Jorgenson and Ian Olson were members of the victorious 200-yard freestyle relay and 200-yard medley relay last year, with Jorgenson adding a title in the 400-yard freestyle relay and Olson helping the 400-yard medley relay to a first-place finish. Evan Schroeder contributed to the winning 400-yard freestyle relay and 800-yard freestyle relay.
 
Ryf, Keller and Schroeder set a conference meet record of 6:40.72 in the 800-yard freestyle relay a year ago, while Olson and Jorgenson helped the 200-yard medley relay set a conference mark of 1:28.65.
 
Nicholas Litterer, Mitchell Johnson and Caleb Jondle have been UW-La Crosse’s top swimmers during the 2022-23 campaign, while Tony McNiff has produced the best diving marks.
 
UW-Oshkosh’s swimmers have been led by Ben Knoeck, while Joey Jurva owns strong diving marks.
 
UW-Whitewater has received strong swims from Ethan Bergman and Dom Schlueter throughout the season.
 
Qualifying individuals will compete at the NCAA Division III Championship, which will be conducted March 15-18 at Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, N.C.
 

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