The St. Mary’s College of Maryland men’s swim team captured four events Sunday (Feb. 12) on the final day of the 2023 Atlantic East Conference Swimming Championships. For the first time since joining the Atlantic East in 2020-21, St. Mary’s College finished second in the team standings after coming in third the previous two years.
St. Mary’s College also notched 11 podium appearances while sophomore Luke Schwenk (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck) and first-year Robert Shively (Potomac, Md./Walt Whitman) set records in the 100 freestyle and the 200 butterfly, respectively.
The Seahawks earned 615 points for second place in the three-day competition. Marymount (Va.) University halted Cabrini University’s four-title run as the Saints tallied 713 points to rise to the top of the six-team field. Cabrini ended up third with 506 points.
This is the second straight year that the Aquatics Center at the Michael P. O’Brien Athletics & Recreation Center on the St. Mary’s campus is serving as the host site.
How It Happened
- Schwenk tallied a championship meet, conference, and school record as well as an NCAA B Cut in capturing the 100 freestyle with a top time of 44.44. This is Schwenk’s second NCAA provisional qualifying time in the 100 freestyle this season.
- The 100 freestyle championship meet record that Schwenk broke was 47.28 set by Marymount’s Isaiah Jones on February 17, 2019, while the previous conference mark was 47.02 set by Cabrini’s Tre Fissella on April 24, 2021. For the school record, he shaved off 0.54 seconds from his previous mark of 44.98 set on December 4 at the Randolph-Macon College Yellow Jacket Invitational.
- Shively posted a championship meet, conference, and school record in taking first in the 200 butterfly with a winning time of 1:52.27.
- Shively reset the 200-butterfly championship meet and conference record as he surpassed 1:57.65 set by Cabrini’s Tommy Ronayne on February 13 of last year. For the school record, Shively knocked off nearly two seconds his previous mark of 1:54.24 set on December 4 at the Randolph-Macon Yellow Jacket Invitational.
- The Seahawks claimed a 1-2 finish in the 1650 freestyle as senior captain Sebastian Ludwig (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) won it all in 16:55.10 followed by first-year Carter Boone (Phoenix, Md./Loyola Blakefield) in second in 18:42.55.
- First-year Jair Jackson (Laurel, Md./Chapelgate Christian) recorded his first career individual title as Jackson won the 200 breaststroke in 2:10.97, edging Cabrini’s Michael Gray by 0.35 seconds.
- The Seahawks notched a third-place finish in the 400-freestyle relay with a time of 3:12.00 behind the efforts of Ludwig, first-year William Kendrick (Laurel, Md./DeMatha Catholic), senior captain Jack Kennedy (Northampton, Pa./Northampton Area), and Schwenk.
- Senior captain Anri Cifuentes Robinson (Easton, Md./Easton) gained a fourth-place finish in the 200 breaststroke in 2:14.18 while sophomore Sam Meisel (Chevy Chase, Md./Walter Johnson) won the consolation final in 2:36.57 for ninth overall.
- Kennedy added a fifth-place finish in the 100 freestyle in 49.07 to lead the Seahawks while Kendrick went eighth in 50.24.
- Boone collected a sixth-place finish in the 200 backstroke in 2:17.34 while junior Sam Shenot (Upper Marlboro, Md./Leonardtown) chipped in a seventh-place finish in 2:05.60.
Up Next for the Seahawks
- Season Complete