TicketsCINCINNATI— The University of Cincinnati men's and women's swimming and diving teams are ready for their week-long trip to Dallas for the 2023 American Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships.
"We are looking good this week and the team is feeling really prepared for our competition next week, head coach Mandy Commons-DiSalle said. "I'm excited to race against some new schools at the meet next week and think the added competition will be great for our team. I am really looking forward to capping off our season with some great performances!"
// 2023 AAC SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
DATE AND TIMES
The AAC Swimming and Diving Championships will be held at the Robson and Lindley Aquatics Center and Barr-McMillion Natatorium in Dallas, Texas, hosted by SMU. The conference championships will be split into two sections. The diving portion of the meet will open on Monday, Feb. 13, until Wednesday, Feb.15. The swimming portion of the meet will follow Wednesday until Saturday, Feb. 18. Each day will hold a different number and type of events and the complete schedule of events and start times is attached above.
RESULTS
Live swimming and diving results will be available on the AAC Swimming & Diving Championship Central page, and the meet will be available via Meet Mobile. Final results will also be posted to the Swimming & Diving Championship Central page and GoBearcats.com following the conclusion of the meet.
TICKETS
Fans wishing to attend the meet can pursuance tickets in person at the Robson and Lindley Aquatics Center and Barr-McMillion Natatorium. Fans can purchase either All-Session passes or single-session tickets with pricing information provided. All-Sessions passes will be available on-site only during sessions 1-3 (Monday, Feb. 13 – Wednesday, Feb.15) Single session tickets will be on sale throughout the meet.
WATCH
For those not attending the conference championships, all swimming and diving sessions will be streamed on ESPN+. The link to the stream is attached above.
// BEARCATS TO WATCH
Junior Hunter Gubeno has been dominant through the opening portion of the season, posting his best run as a Bearcat. Gubeno has tallied a team-high 16 individual event wins throughout the season, including eight in the 200-yard backstroke. The Howell, Mich., leads the conference in both the 100-yard backstroke and 200-yard backstroke. He has NCAA 'B' standard times in three events, including the 200-yard backstroke at 1:41.47, which also ranks 24th in the NCAA, the 100-yard backstroke at 47.62 and the 200-yard individual medley at 1:45.94. His 200-yard and 100-yard times also stands second in program history.
Gubeno has been named AAC Men's Swimmer of the Week three times this season, which marks the most that any Bearcat has earned in a single season. He enters the postseason as the reigning Men's Swimmer of the Week after winning six of seven individual events in dual meets with Xavier, Kentucky and Louisville.
Joleigh Crye's freshman campaign has been full of outstanding individual performances, including breaking the 100-yard breaststroke school record on two separate occasions. In the last dual meet of the season, Crye reset her 100-yard breaststroke record with a time of 59.57 seconds, becoming the first woman to break the one-minute mark in the event in school history. The time stands as a NCAA 'B' standard mark leads the conference and ranks 23rd in the NCAA. The Avon, N.Y. native leads the women's team with nine individual event wins this season.
Throughout his career at Cincinnati, senior Michael Balcerak has been dominant come postseason time. He is the reigning two-time AAC Most Outstanding Men's Swimmer of the Year and a six-time AAC Championship individual event champion. Balcerak is currently ranked second in the 500-yard freestyle at 4:25.05 and 100-yard butterfly with his NCAA 'B' standard time of 47.16.
Freshman Lily Jones ranks second in the conference in the 200-yard backstroke at 1:57.56. Her time is the second-fastest 200-yard backstroke in program history. Jones also holds the fourth-fastest 100-yard backstroke in program history with a time of 54.52. She has compiled four event wins this season, all coming in the 200-yard backstroke.
Individual medley specialist senior Spencer Sehlhorst will look for a repeat performance of last year's AAC Championships when he broke the 400-yard individual medley program record with a time of 3:47.10. Sehlhorst currently stands fourth in the conference in the 400-yard individual medley with an NCAA 'B' Standard time of 3:49.79.
Distance freestyle swimmer freshman Ido Gal has recorded all-time program top-10 times in both the 1,650-yard freestyle at 15:18.95, which ranks eighth, and the 1,000-yard freestyle at 9:15.17, which ranks ninth. Gal's 1,650-yard time is an NCAA 'B' standard time and leads the conference. Gal's most impressive performance this season was leading the men's team to their second CSCAA College Open Water National Championship, where he swam the 5K race in 54:45.46 to finish third overall and earned an invite to the USA Swimming 5K Open Water Championships.
Freshman Grace Gavin etched her name in the school record book after breaking the women's 100-yard backstroke with a time of 54.35. Gavin currently ranks fourth in the conference in the event and has recorded five individual wins this season.
Fifth-year senior Conner Funke has been a force in the breaststroke all season. Funke currently ranks third in the conference with an NCAA 'B' standard time of 1:57.96, the fifth fastest time in program history. Funke also recorded the fifth-fastest 100-yard breaststroke in program history with a time of 54.81. Funke has posted 10 individual wins this season, boasted by six in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Junior Tommy Eaton will look to repeat last year's AAC Championships where he set the 200-yard butterfly program record with a time of 1:43.73. Eaton currently ranks second in the conference in the 200-yard butterfly with an NCAA 'B' standard time of 1:45.35. Eaton has won seven individual events this season, five of which came in the 200-yard butterfly.
Sophomore diver Will Claus had his best meet of the season against Kentucky. Claus recorded personal bests in both the 1-meter dive at 309.98 and 3-meter dive at 332.85, both standing as NCAA Diving Zone qualifying marks. This is the second time in his career that he has qualified for the zone competition.
//CINCINNATI AT THE AMERICAN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Entering the AAC Swimming and Diving Championships, the men's team will be looking to earn their third conference championship title since claiming back-to-back team titles in 2018 and 2019. The women's team will be looking to claim their first team title.
The men's team have had 26 swimming individual conference titles, six relay titles and two individual diving titles since joining the conferece in 2014. Michael Balcerak is a six-time individual champion and the lone swimmer or diver on the roster that has won a title.
Balcerak is the reigning AAC 200-yard and 500-yard freestyle champion. He was won the 500-yard crown each of the past two seasons and will look to the exclusive company of Dominic Polling (200y IM) and Chris Bready (1650y Free) that has won three straight titles in one event.
Balcerak is the two-time reigning AAC Most Outstanding Men's Swimmer of the Year. He joins SMU's Jonathan Gomez Jr. as the only two male swimmers ever to win the award multiple times. The only swimmer to ever win the award three straight times, male or female, was Cincinnati's Jackie Keire from 2015-17.
Since the creation of the AAC in 2014, the men's team has dominated the 1650-yard freestyle event, winning seven straight event titles from 2015-2021. The seven wins are the most by one school in a singular swimming event in men's conference history. Ido Gal currently leads the conference in the 1650-yard event and will compete to bring home the Bearcats' eighth 1650-yard freestyle title. The men's team will also try to defend conference titles in both the 200-yard breaststroke and 400-yard medley relay.
The women's team will look to recapture some former glory and claim an individual event title for the first time since 2021. Since the creation of the AAC, the women's team has claimed 16 individual swimming event titles, two relay titles, and two diving titles. Former Bearcat Jackie Kerie is the most decorated individual event champion in conference history with nine individual event titles.
Freshman Joleigh Crye will look to become the first Cincinnati women's swimmer to take home the 100-yard breaststroke individual title. She currently has the fastest event time and is the only swimmer in the conference with a sub-one minute mark.
As a program, Cincinnati has earned 169 All-Conference honors (77 from the women and 92 from the men) since joining the AAC. Last season the men had 12 All-Conference honorees, while the women recorded eight. The most honorees the Bearcats have had in one season was 25 in 2018, when the women finished with 12 and the men had 13.
This will be Cincinnati's final appearance at the AAC Championships before Cincinnati becomes a part of the Big 12 conference next season.
// FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
To stay up to date with the latest swimming and diving news, photos and videos, follow the teams on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (@GoBearcatsSwim).
"We are looking good this week and the team is feeling really prepared for our competition next week, head coach Mandy Commons-DiSalle said. "I'm excited to race against some new schools at the meet next week and think the added competition will be great for our team. I am really looking forward to capping off our season with some great performances!"
// 2023 AAC SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
DATE AND TIMES
The AAC Swimming and Diving Championships will be held at the Robson and Lindley Aquatics Center and Barr-McMillion Natatorium in Dallas, Texas, hosted by SMU. The conference championships will be split into two sections. The diving portion of the meet will open on Monday, Feb. 13, until Wednesday, Feb.15. The swimming portion of the meet will follow Wednesday until Saturday, Feb. 18. Each day will hold a different number and type of events and the complete schedule of events and start times is attached above.
RESULTS
Live swimming and diving results will be available on the AAC Swimming & Diving Championship Central page, and the meet will be available via Meet Mobile. Final results will also be posted to the Swimming & Diving Championship Central page and GoBearcats.com following the conclusion of the meet.
TICKETS
Fans wishing to attend the meet can pursuance tickets in person at the Robson and Lindley Aquatics Center and Barr-McMillion Natatorium. Fans can purchase either All-Session passes or single-session tickets with pricing information provided. All-Sessions passes will be available on-site only during sessions 1-3 (Monday, Feb. 13 – Wednesday, Feb.15) Single session tickets will be on sale throughout the meet.
WATCH
For those not attending the conference championships, all swimming and diving sessions will be streamed on ESPN+. The link to the stream is attached above.
// BEARCATS TO WATCH
Junior Hunter Gubeno has been dominant through the opening portion of the season, posting his best run as a Bearcat. Gubeno has tallied a team-high 16 individual event wins throughout the season, including eight in the 200-yard backstroke. The Howell, Mich., leads the conference in both the 100-yard backstroke and 200-yard backstroke. He has NCAA 'B' standard times in three events, including the 200-yard backstroke at 1:41.47, which also ranks 24th in the NCAA, the 100-yard backstroke at 47.62 and the 200-yard individual medley at 1:45.94. His 200-yard and 100-yard times also stands second in program history.
Gubeno has been named AAC Men's Swimmer of the Week three times this season, which marks the most that any Bearcat has earned in a single season. He enters the postseason as the reigning Men's Swimmer of the Week after winning six of seven individual events in dual meets with Xavier, Kentucky and Louisville.
Joleigh Crye's freshman campaign has been full of outstanding individual performances, including breaking the 100-yard breaststroke school record on two separate occasions. In the last dual meet of the season, Crye reset her 100-yard breaststroke record with a time of 59.57 seconds, becoming the first woman to break the one-minute mark in the event in school history. The time stands as a NCAA 'B' standard mark leads the conference and ranks 23rd in the NCAA. The Avon, N.Y. native leads the women's team with nine individual event wins this season.
Throughout his career at Cincinnati, senior Michael Balcerak has been dominant come postseason time. He is the reigning two-time AAC Most Outstanding Men's Swimmer of the Year and a six-time AAC Championship individual event champion. Balcerak is currently ranked second in the 500-yard freestyle at 4:25.05 and 100-yard butterfly with his NCAA 'B' standard time of 47.16.
Freshman Lily Jones ranks second in the conference in the 200-yard backstroke at 1:57.56. Her time is the second-fastest 200-yard backstroke in program history. Jones also holds the fourth-fastest 100-yard backstroke in program history with a time of 54.52. She has compiled four event wins this season, all coming in the 200-yard backstroke.
Individual medley specialist senior Spencer Sehlhorst will look for a repeat performance of last year's AAC Championships when he broke the 400-yard individual medley program record with a time of 3:47.10. Sehlhorst currently stands fourth in the conference in the 400-yard individual medley with an NCAA 'B' Standard time of 3:49.79.
Distance freestyle swimmer freshman Ido Gal has recorded all-time program top-10 times in both the 1,650-yard freestyle at 15:18.95, which ranks eighth, and the 1,000-yard freestyle at 9:15.17, which ranks ninth. Gal's 1,650-yard time is an NCAA 'B' standard time and leads the conference. Gal's most impressive performance this season was leading the men's team to their second CSCAA College Open Water National Championship, where he swam the 5K race in 54:45.46 to finish third overall and earned an invite to the USA Swimming 5K Open Water Championships.
Freshman Grace Gavin etched her name in the school record book after breaking the women's 100-yard backstroke with a time of 54.35. Gavin currently ranks fourth in the conference in the event and has recorded five individual wins this season.
Fifth-year senior Conner Funke has been a force in the breaststroke all season. Funke currently ranks third in the conference with an NCAA 'B' standard time of 1:57.96, the fifth fastest time in program history. Funke also recorded the fifth-fastest 100-yard breaststroke in program history with a time of 54.81. Funke has posted 10 individual wins this season, boasted by six in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Junior Tommy Eaton will look to repeat last year's AAC Championships where he set the 200-yard butterfly program record with a time of 1:43.73. Eaton currently ranks second in the conference in the 200-yard butterfly with an NCAA 'B' standard time of 1:45.35. Eaton has won seven individual events this season, five of which came in the 200-yard butterfly.
Sophomore diver Will Claus had his best meet of the season against Kentucky. Claus recorded personal bests in both the 1-meter dive at 309.98 and 3-meter dive at 332.85, both standing as NCAA Diving Zone qualifying marks. This is the second time in his career that he has qualified for the zone competition.
//CINCINNATI AT THE AMERICAN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Entering the AAC Swimming and Diving Championships, the men's team will be looking to earn their third conference championship title since claiming back-to-back team titles in 2018 and 2019. The women's team will be looking to claim their first team title.
The men's team have had 26 swimming individual conference titles, six relay titles and two individual diving titles since joining the conferece in 2014. Michael Balcerak is a six-time individual champion and the lone swimmer or diver on the roster that has won a title.
Balcerak is the reigning AAC 200-yard and 500-yard freestyle champion. He was won the 500-yard crown each of the past two seasons and will look to the exclusive company of Dominic Polling (200y IM) and Chris Bready (1650y Free) that has won three straight titles in one event.
Balcerak is the two-time reigning AAC Most Outstanding Men's Swimmer of the Year. He joins SMU's Jonathan Gomez Jr. as the only two male swimmers ever to win the award multiple times. The only swimmer to ever win the award three straight times, male or female, was Cincinnati's Jackie Keire from 2015-17.
Since the creation of the AAC in 2014, the men's team has dominated the 1650-yard freestyle event, winning seven straight event titles from 2015-2021. The seven wins are the most by one school in a singular swimming event in men's conference history. Ido Gal currently leads the conference in the 1650-yard event and will compete to bring home the Bearcats' eighth 1650-yard freestyle title. The men's team will also try to defend conference titles in both the 200-yard breaststroke and 400-yard medley relay.
The women's team will look to recapture some former glory and claim an individual event title for the first time since 2021. Since the creation of the AAC, the women's team has claimed 16 individual swimming event titles, two relay titles, and two diving titles. Former Bearcat Jackie Kerie is the most decorated individual event champion in conference history with nine individual event titles.
Freshman Joleigh Crye will look to become the first Cincinnati women's swimmer to take home the 100-yard breaststroke individual title. She currently has the fastest event time and is the only swimmer in the conference with a sub-one minute mark.
As a program, Cincinnati has earned 169 All-Conference honors (77 from the women and 92 from the men) since joining the AAC. Last season the men had 12 All-Conference honorees, while the women recorded eight. The most honorees the Bearcats have had in one season was 25 in 2018, when the women finished with 12 and the men had 13.
This will be Cincinnati's final appearance at the AAC Championships before Cincinnati becomes a part of the Big 12 conference next season.
// FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
To stay up to date with the latest swimming and diving news, photos and videos, follow the teams on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (@GoBearcatsSwim).