By Robbie Dzierzanowski, Staff Writer

Xavier men’s and women’s swimming team closed their dual meet team schedule last weekend with a loss at Miami 179-79.

The team could only pick up 4 wins at the meet, with their focus now turning to the Big East Championship which is held from Feb. 28 through March 2 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

One of the four champions in the meet were the 200-yard-freestyle relay consisting of sophomore Olivia Oyseter, juniors Reese Turner and Alexis Worrall and senior Kali Fischer, finishing with a time of 1:34.76. Senior Erin Ritz also won one of her events, the 100 butterfly, with a time of 56.80, and led all Xavier swimmers with a time of 25.90.

The other meet champions came from the men’s side.

Freshman Matt Fralic won the 100-yard-backstroke with a time of 52.01 and placed second in the 50-yard-backstroke with a speedy time of 24.06.

The last champion from the meet was sophomore Aiden Leamer who won the 100-yard-butterfly with a time of 49.62 and placed second in the 50-yard-butterfly with a time of 22.57.

Other notable men’s swims came from junior Nathan Wall who placed second in the 500-yard-freestyle with a time of 4:42.13.

Overall, the season has had a lot of ups and downs for both the men and women’s sides of the team, not consistently winning meets.

The teams both started the year on a streak, with the women going 4-0 in the Butler Double Dual in September last year, as the men went 2-1 in their division. The next meet was onto a Louisville dual meet, where both the men and women were swept and dropped to 4-1 for the women and 2-2 for the men’s team.

Next up was the Akron Zips Classic in October where the men were the champions out of three teams, and the women placed in third out of five overall teams. Next on the calendar was the Cleveland State Magnus cup in Cleveland where the men’s team finished off in second place and the event.

The men and women are back in action later this month is the 2024 Big East Championship which is being held in Indianapolis, Indiana. The championship meet moves away from the normal venue in which it is held in East Meadow, New York. The championship will be the last meet for those swimmers who do not qualify for the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship held at the IU Natatorium from March 27 to 30, 2024.