By Robbie Dzierzanowski, Staff Writer
Xavier swim will conclude their 2023-24 campaign at the Big East Championship starting today The crown jewel of Xavier swim season. is held from Feb. 28 through March 2 in Indianapolis, Ind. at the IUPUI Natatorim.
Xavier’s swimming team closed their dual meet team schedule last weekend with a loss at Miami 179-79.
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.
The men’s team finished 2-5 in head-to-head meets this season, while the women recorded one win and six losses.
As Xavier heads off to Indy to compete for conference titles this weekend, 2022 and 2023 All Big East Team selection Ritz reflects, “Big East is unlike any other swim meet I’ve ever competed in. The atmosphere is so unique. There’s a DJ on deck. Our amazing group of Xavier parents are decked out head-to-toe in Xavier gear.”
Xzvier has accumulated the third-most total points among men’s programs in the Big East this season, with the women holding the fifth most.
Names to look for on the leaderboard this week include sophomre Kyle Hudson in the 100 meter freestyle dash, freshman Matt Fralic in the 50m backstroke, Ritz in the 50m fly, sophomore Matthew Adanin in the 100m fly. Junior Olivia Oyster is the favorite in the women’s 50m freestyle dash, recording a 23 second performance in Cleveland State University’s Magnus Cup.
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