Swimming World Presents – The NCAA Division II Champs: Queen’s University of Charlotte

Swimming World June 2021 - 2021 NCAA Division II Review - Queens University

The Queen's University of Charlotte team at the 2021 NCAA DII Championships

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The NCAA Division II Champs: Queen’s University of Charlotte

By Andy Ross

A year into the pandemic that has completely changed our world, Queens University of Charlotte brought about some stability to the 2021 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships by sweeping their sixth straight women’s and men’s team titles.

The 2020 NCAA Division II Championships were cut short after just three sessions due to the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the entire world. A
year later, March 17-20, at Birmingham, Ala., the only concern was a tornado threat after the first session of prelims that delayed the first night of finals by 18 hours, turning the second day of competition into a timed finals session.

But one thing remained constant: Queens University of Charlotte (N.C.) celebrated another team championship for both its women’s and men’s teams. It only took them five years after starting their swimming program to win their first title in 2015. And neither team has lost at NCAAs since.

MEN’S RACE: QUEENS 561, DRURY 531, INDIANAPOLIS 369
Day 1 finals brought two Division II records, with Drury (Nathan Bighetti, Dawid Nowodworski, Dominik Karacic and Alexander Bowen) opening the men’s competition with a 1:24.69 in the 200 yard medley relay, breaking Queens’ 1:24.83 from 2018.

The very next event saw McKendree’s Fabio Dalu set an NCAA record in the 1000 (8:54.10), lowering Queens’ Alex Kunert’s 8:56.76 record from 2019. Dalu, who was named the CSCAA Swimmer of the Year, also broke his own NCAA 14:55.42 record in the 1650 from earlier this season with a 14:55.12.

Drury’s Karol Ostrowski nearly became the third record breaker of the night, missing his own 50 free mark of 19.08 with a 19.12. But in his second chance of the day, leading off the 200 free relay, Ostrowski clocked 18.92 to become the first man outside of NCAA D-I to break the 19-second barrier. His teammates (Kham Glass, Caleb Carlson and Alexander Bowen) followed with another record at 1:16.90, erasing Tampa’s 1:17.27 from 2016.

Ostrowski returned on the final night with a record in the 100 freestyle (41.25) that would have placed second at the Division I meet. He then anchored Drury’s winning 400 free relay with a 41.10, one of four relay wins for the Panthers…

WOMEN’S RACE: QUEENS 695, DRURY 441, INDIANAPOLIS 391
Queens dominated, winning by 254 points—the third straight year (and fourth of the last six) that the Royals have won by triple digits.

A large part of their success came from sophomore Danielle Melilli, who was named the CSCAA Swimmer of the Year for her wins in the 50 free (22.57) and 100 breast (1:01.32). She also finished second in the 100 free (49.50) to teammate Lexie Baker (49.49) and fourth in the 200 free (1:49.70), while swimming on both of Queens’ winning medley relays (1:40.13, 3:38.00).

Indianapolis won both sprint free relays (1:30.92, 3:19.98) en route to a program-high third-place finish. The Greyhounds also celebrated their first women’s national champions, with Marizel van Jaarsveld winning the 200 IM (1:57.84) and Kaitlyn McCoy taking the 200 back (1:56.39).
Queens used its impressive depth to win the team championship, as only Melilli, Baker, Giulia Grasso (500 free, 4:48.80) and Francesca Bains (1650, 16:30.98) took home individual titles…

To read our complete review of the NCAA Division II Champs, Queen’s University of Charlotte,
Click here to download the full May 2021 issue of Swimming World Magazine, available now!

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[PHOTO CREDIT: ISHOF ARCHIVE]

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Swimming World May 2021 Issue

FEATURES

014 WOMEN’S NCAAs: A NEW NO. 1
For the first time in the history of the NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships—since 1982—the University of Virginia finished first. It was also the first time it cracked the top 5 with its previous highest finish sixth in 2019.

VIRGINIA’S ROAD TO HISTORY
by Dan D’Addona
NC STATE ADDS TO ACC DOMINANCE
by Dan D’Addona
THE TALK OF THE MEET: MAGGIE MacNEIL
by John Lohn

018 MEN’S NCAAs: THE PERFECT RETIREMENT GIFT
Days before their coach, Eddie Reese, officially announced his retirement from coaching after 43 years, the Texas men’s team won their 15th men’s NCAA national team championship.

THIS ONE’S FOR EDDIE!
by Andy Ross
SCINTILLATING PERFORMANCES: SHAINE CASAS & RYAN HOFFER
by John Lohn
PATIENCE REWARDED: MAX McHUGH & NICK ALBIERO
by Andy Ross

022 NCAA D-II CHAMPS: SOME THINGS NEVER SEEM TO CHANGE
by Andy Ross
A year into the pandemic that has completely changed our world, Queens University of Charlotte brought about some stability to the 2021 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships by sweeping their sixth straight women’s and men’s team titles.

023 NO LIMITS!
by David Rieder
Claire Curzan has been swimming fast since she was a young age grouper and has continued to do so in high school. Last March, she came within 13-hundredths of the American record in the short course 100 fly, and in April, she found herself within 22-hundredths of the long course U.S. best. She’s versatile, she’s coachable, she has international experience, and she’s moved from a fringe Olympic contender to an Olympic favorite. Curzan is only 16, and her promising future couldn’t be brighter.

026 TAKEOFF TO TOKYO: WHEN IRISH EYES WEREN’T SMILING
by John Lohn
Ireland’s Michelle Smith—a four-time Olympic medalist in 1996 who received a four-year ban from the sport in 1998 for tampering with a doping sample—has been defined as being a poster girl for cheating, and by her willingness to cut corners and take advantage of performance-enhancing drug use to make the leap from an athlete of very-good skill to one of elite status.

029 50 SWIMMERS, 6 MEDALS
by Dan D’Addona
The Tokyo Olympics will mark the fourth occasion that open water swimming will be contested on the Olympic level, and even a 10-kilometer marathon race can bring exciting moments and dramatic finishes.

030 JOSH MATHENY: RISING STAR
by Matthew De George
From a middle-schooler newly committed to swimming full-time in 2016, the future looks encouraging for 18-year-old Josh Matheny, who approaches the U.S. Olympic Trials for Tokyo in June as a dark horse to make the team in men’s breaststroke.

032 ISHOF: THE ART OF SWIMMING
by Bruce Wigo
This is the story of Hero and Leander, Lord Byron and the birth of open water swimming.

035 NUTRITION: HYDRATION—BEYOND THIRST!
by Dawn Weatherwax
Hydration truly has a daily importance for all kinds of swimmers from age groupers to Olympians to Masters swimmers, but it tends to get more notoriety when the weather gets warmer.

COACHING

012 THE POWER OF POSITIVE COACHING
by Michael J. Stott
Relationships built upon honesty, trust and communication go a long way toward cementing a bond between coach and athlete. Coupling that with knowledge of the individual first and athlete second produces a positive working relationship that can last for a lifetime.

038 SWIMMING TECHNIQUE CONCEPTS: MAXIMIZING SWIMMING VELOCITY (Part 1)—STROKE RATE vs. STROKE LENGTH
by Rod Havriluk
Swimming velocity is the criterion measure for swimming performance and is the product of stroke length and stroke rate. This article explains how stroke length and stroke rate vary and how stroke time provides insight into maximizing swimming velocity.

042 Q&A WITH COACH STEVE HAUFLER
by Michael J. Stott

044 HOW THEY TRAIN CHARLOTTE SHAMIA
by Michael J. Stott

TRAINING

037 DRYSIDE TRAINING: THE IM DRYLAND CIRCUIT
by J.R. Rosania

JUNIOR SWIMMER

047 UP & COMERS: TEAGAN O’DELL
by Shoshanna Rutemiller

COLUMNS

008 A VOICE FOR THE SPORT

011 DID YOU KNOW: ABOUT THE MOREHOUSE TIGER SHARKS?

046 THE OFFICIAL WORD

048 GUTTERTALK

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