BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Normally the collegiate swimming & diving season would begin in early to mid-October and by the third week of January thoughts would be turning to the year-end championship meets. The COVID 19 pandemic has turned that completely upside down and on Saturday, January 23 the Augustana swimming & diving team hit the water in a competitive situation for the first time in the 2020-21 season.
 
It was successful for both the men and the women as head coach Dan Lloyd's team came away with a pair of victories over Illinois Wesleyan at the Fort Natatorium in Bloomington, Illinois. The Vikings took a pair of close decisions with the women winning 139-132 while the men triumphed 132-129 over the Titans. In both meets Augustana was forced to come from behind and it was the final two events that made the difference in each win.
 
"I could not be more proud of our entire team and the way we performed today," said Lloyd. "Everyone stepped up and gave everything they had in every race."
 
Lloyd acknowledged that this has been a unique season so far and he paid a huge compliment to his team.
 
"Over this season where we have faced so many challenges we have stayed strong and committed to each other throughout it all. That is truly the greatest strength of our team," he commented. "Today that strength and commitment could be seen as we were ready for this moment to finally compete and race as one team and represent Augustana with great honor and pride."
 
AUGUSTANA 132, ILLINOIS WESLEYAN 129 (MEN) – In a balanced battle that see-sawed back and forth, Augustana used one-two finishes in the final two events of the afternoon to overcome the Titans and post a 132-129 victory on Saturday, January 23 in Bloomington, Illinois. The Vikings trailed by 20 points heading into the 200 individual medley but sophomores Isaiah Valentine (Walnut Hills HS, Cincinnati, Ohio) and Evan Juarez (Moline HS, Moline, Ill.) swept the top two places in times of 2:09.63 and 2:12.88 respectively. That closed the gap to 127-117 and gave the Blue and Gold hope.
 
A sweep of the top two finishes in the final event of the meet, the 200 free relay, was needed. That was exactly what Lloyd's team got as the foursome of freshman Nick Phillips (Woodstock North HS, Wonder Lake, Ill.), junior Aidan McConkey (Olympia HS, Windermere, Fla.), senior Jeremy Wolf (Woodstock HS, Woodstock, Ill.) and sophomore Jack Blumenfeld (Hersey HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) won with a time of 1:29.39. When the second quartet of senior Brett Keefe (Rockford Christian HS, Machesney Park, Ill.), Juarez, senior Charlie Young (St. Charles East HS, St. Charles, Ill.) and senior Jason Palmer (Vernon Hills HS, Libertyville, Ill.) touched the pad in 1:41.59 the Viking had edged past the Titans in the team standings with the final score at 132-129.
 
Augustana outscored the hosts 28-5 in the last two events, including a 15-2 margin in the final race of the day.
 
The Vikings began the day with a victory in the opening event as McConkey, Keefe, senior Tito Quinones (LaVista HS, Papillion, Neb.) and Blumenfeld won the 200 medley relay in 1:40.95. Keefe would later win the 100 breaststroke in 1:04.01 and Blumenfeld added a victory in the 100 freestyle (:48.90) and a second in the 200 freestyle (1:50.32).
 
McConkey chipped in with a pair of runner-up finishes as he took second in the 100 backstroke (:57.16) and 200 backstroke (2:12.04). He was actually part of a one-two-three sweep in the 100 backstroke as Phillips won the event in :55.23 and Young was third in :59.10. Phillips had a third in the 50 freestyle (:23.15) and a fourth in the 100 freestyle (:50.60) while added a win in the 200 backstroke (2:09.32) to his day's resume.
 
Valentine took second in the 200 butterfly (2:09.72) while Wolf was second in the 50 freestyle (:23.05) and third in the 100 freestyle (:50.41). Brandt added a second in the 100 butterfly in :56.39 and a third in the 200 butterfly in 2:14.77. Palmer was busy as well as he was second in the 200 breaststroke (2:54.99), third in the 500 freestyle (6:15.79) and third in the 1000 freestyle (12:37.40). Quinones was fourth in the 100 butterfly (:58.85).