USC men’s swim wrapped up its regular season on Friday afternoon with a decisive victory over the UNLV Rebels at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center. In this meet, the Trojans hit their stride at just the right time, claiming 15 of 16 events on their way to a 200-61 win.
The meet started strong for USC when senior Michal Chmielewski, junior Junhao Chan, senior Jan Bialecki and senior Oliver Sogaard-Andersen won the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:25.54. From there, the Trojans never looked back.
Sophomore Thomas Olsen set the tone in the distance events, touching the wall first in both the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:08.38 and later in the 500-yard freestyle, posting a 4:26.79. His strong performances showed the depth USC brings to the longer races.
Graduate student Vaggelis Makrygiannis also had an impressive day, sweeping both the 200-yard freestyle and the 200-yard backstroke. He finished the 200 freestyle in 1:35.39. He then won the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:42.67.
Chmielewski continued his strong performances throughout the meet. The senior took first in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 46.43, then came back to win the 100-yard butterfly, posting 46.14. His versatility across different strokes exemplified the kind of depth that will make USC dangerous heading into conference and national championships.
Chan led a complete USC sweep of the top four spots in the 100-yard breaststroke, winning with a time of 52.39. Sophomore Stuart Timmerman, junior Keller Morgan and sophomore Nathan Wu rounded out the Trojan podium takeover in second, third and fourth place.
The Trojans crowded the podium once again in the 200-yard breaststroke. Chan again once again led the way in 1:54.45, followed by Timmerman,Morgan and senior Filip Mujan. Both of Chan’s times met NCAA qualifying standards.
Aside from Chan, sophomore Charlie Bufton also posted an NCAA qualifying time in the 200-yard butterfly, touching the wall at 1:43.78 to take the event. Sophomore Diego Balbi finished just behind him in second place with a 1:43.86.
Sogaard-Andersen added another victory for the Trojans in the 100-yard freestyle, posting a time of 42.90 to hold off graduate student Bryson Huey from UNLV, who finished in 44.74.
Mujan took first in the 200-yard individual medley. He completed the race in 1:49.31. Wu placed second for USC with a time of 1:49.49, giving the Trojans another one-two finish.
UNLV’s Bryson Huey won the 50-yard free in 19.80. USC’s Sogaard-Andersen and Bilecki came second and third in 19.99 and 20.32, respectively.
Unfortunately, USC’s A team was disqualified on a technical error in the 400-yard freestyle relay, while USC’s B team came second at 2:57.66. The Trojan C Team, sophomores Emiliano Zamudio and Pierce O’Grady, freshman Reid Caswell and junior Drew Huston, won the event with a time of 1:56.36. This capped off an impressive afternoon for the home team.
By finishing the regular NCAA season on such a high note, the No. 15 Trojans look to make a splash at the championship level. With many swimmers managing to get NCAA marks, the Trojans seem poised to peak at exactly the right moment.
The men’s swim team now turns its attention to the Big Ten Championships, which will take place from February 25-28 in Madison, Wisconsin.