Brady Boie – Staff Writer

The Gustavus Men’s Swimming and Diving team enjoyed a victory at the MIAC Championships. This win satiated the Gusties’ inability to compete in a championship meet in the spring of 2021 and completed a dynasty in the making, as the men claimed the conference title for the third consecutive season.

“It was good to assert ourselves in the MIAC this year with not being able to swim last year. It was really good to show how dominant Gustavus swimming is,” Junior swimmer Andrew Becker said.

The avalanche began from the opening gun, as the Gustie team of Junior Dane Hudson, Sophomore Peyton Richardson, Sophomore Kieran Ripken, and Becker took down the heavily-favored Johnnies in the 200 Medley relay.
The Gusties’ blazing relay time of 1:31.52 gave them a new school record and put them in consideration for the NCAA meet. The Gusties carried this momentum through the rest of the night, as the 800 Freestyle relay team comprised of Richardson, Junior Erik Small, Senior Eamonn McCollough, and Sophomore Matt Strom touched the wall seven seconds ahead of any other team with a time of 6:48.17.
The dominance from day one carried over. A Gustie swimmer or relay team won every event on the second day. Strom battled St. Olaf swimmer and former conference champion Timothy Rizzo in the 500 Freestyle, ousting the highly-touted swimmer by seven-hundredths of a second. Once Strom took down Rizzo, he knew that he was going to have a great meet.
“That really helped me get in that (great) mindset for the rest of the week,” Strom said.
The winning didn’t stop there, as Small and Richardson took the top 2 podium spots in the 200 Individual Medley. Becker and Ripken followed suit, going 1-2 in the 50 free, as both swimmers dipped below 20.60 seconds. The night concluded with another excellent performance from the relay team of Hudson, Ripken, Richardson, and Becker. The 400 Medley relay team finished with a winning time of 3:22.00 seconds.
On day three, Richardson started the day off right with an impressive victory in the 400 Individual Medley. Not to be outdone, Hudson ousted his teammate Becker in the 100 Butterfly. Hudson would later add to the medal count with a second-place finish in the 100 Backstroke, but the story of the night revolved around the podium sweeps in both the 200 Freestyle and the 100 Breastroke. Strom placed first in the 200 Freestyle with a time of 1:39.99, followed closely by teammates Small and Senior swimmer Dutch Franko-Dynes.
“I was super happy with that race (the 200 free)… my freshman year we were top four…to be able to carry it through and get top three this year was good to keep that tradition going,” Small said.
First-year Nyden Hill took first in the 100 breaststroke, out-touching Ripken and Junior Taylor Vander-Jeugdt and winning with a time of 57.30. The night was ended by a record-breaking 200 Freestyle relay that included Hudson, Small, Ripken, and Becker. Their scorching 1:21.53 gave them an NCAA B-Cut and fell under the 2019 consideration time.
On the final day, the Gusties continued to put their pedals to the metal. Strom won the mile with an NCAA B-Cut worthy time of 15:47.27. This impressive performance completed the freestyle “Triple Crown” and earned Strom the honor of MIAC Men’s Swimmer of the Year.
“Matt is a fantastic swimmer. He was the only guy at the meet that won all three of his individual events…what’s most impressive is how he can will himself to the win. If there is someone within range of him at the end of the race, he will find a way to pull ahead and beat them,” Small said.
Another notable performance from Saturday was a new school record in the 100 Freestyle. Becker broke through with a time of 44.66, winning by over a second and a half. Hill claimed his spot as king of the breaststroke hill, touching first in the 200 Breaststroke with a time of 2:05.80. His performance was followed up by fellow First-year Jonathan Cordano, who squeaked by Small to win the 200 Butterfly. The winning 400 Freestyle relay team of Becker, Ripken, Hudson, and Franko-Dynes put the exclamation mark on an overwhelming championship performance by the Gusties.
“We have a fantastic team… we are losing a good senior class but we have such a strong team…I know next year that we will be able to continue our dynasty,” Small said.