Worcester, Mass. – The UMBC men's and women's swimming and diving teams return to the friendly confines of the WPI Sports and Recreation Center for the 2020 America East Swimming and Diving Championships. The meet gets underway on Thursday, Feb. 13 and concludes on Sunday, Feb. 16. Live results and streaming will be available.
Meet Facts & Figures
Location: WPI Sports and Recreation Center (Directions)
Dates of Competition: Thursday, Feb. 13 – Sunday, Feb. 16
America East Championship Central
Tickets: Will be available on site at WPI only. No advance tickets will be sold. Cash only.
Defending Champions: UMBC (M & W)
Media: Streaming
Live Results
Season Recap (by Nick Lorensen, athletic communications intern)
The regular season is over for the UMBC swimming and diving teams. The men finished with a 5-3 meet record and the women ended with a 3-5 mark. Both squads will head to the America East Championships winning three of their past four meets.
It began four months ago for UMBC as they hosted the powerful United States Naval Academy teams . Coming into the season, Navy's men were ranked 15th in the country and they proved that rank in the October 11th meet on Hilltop Circle..
This meet was the Tiago Asakawa Show though, as the sophomore from Brazil took home gold in three races. In the opening 200-yard medley relay, he won alongside seniors Garrett Wlochowski, Luis Galvan and Ilia Ratsev to beat the Midshipmen by a mere .34 seconds. To end the day, he anchored the 400-yard freestyle relay, taking the gold with Rattsev, freshman Niklas Weigelt and sophomore Satori Dobbie. He would also win the 50-yard freestyle event with a time of 21.09 seconds.
The only other events UMBC would only win on the day were the 100-yard butterfly via Dobbie and the three-meter diving competition from senior Ben Parker. Parker would win America East Male Diver of the Week and Asakawa captured the league's Swimmer of the Week honor.
Eight days later, the Retriever men got in the victory column, winning a tri-meet against Delaware and Johns Hopkins.
On the ladies' side junior Natalija Marin headed the attack for the Retrievers, becoming the Dawgs' first double-winner of the season, taking both butterfly events for the women.
Wlochowski, Galvan, Rattsev and Asakawa would also win their second race as a quartet in as many weeks, taking home gold in the 400-medley relay. Junior Kai Wisner and senior Wlochowski would cap the four-race win streak with a bang, giving the Retrievers a significant lead. They picked up victories in both the 1000-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke.
Asawaka and Parker would later win for the second week in a row. Rattsev and sophomore Matt Bennici would pick up their first solo titles on the year to cap the Retrievers' victory.
Heading into the meet against rival Towson, Marin carried loads of momentum. She recorded a career high three wins, coming out triumphant in the 200-yard freestyle, and both the 100 & 200-yard butterfly events. Rattsev would complement her, capturing the gold in the 100 & 200-yard freestyles, along with the 200-yard individual medley.
Wisner had another impressive day in the pool, picking up two golds in the distance freestyle events. Wlochowski, sophomore Luka Zuric and senior Hayley Committe would all pick up one apiece
Heading into the final two events, the men's meet was close. Head Coach Chad Cradock would decide to insert Rattsev into the 200-yard individual medley and he responded with a victory. The Retrievers held a slight lead a fourth of the way through the final relay, but the Tigers prevailed and pulled out a 153.5-144.5 victory.
"Although we lost to an excellent Towson program, I am so proud of our men and women," said Cradock. "Our goal is to continue to get better meet to meet. Today we were faster and stronger than in earlier meets and we won most of the close ones. We will remain focused on our theme to 'be the change.' It is up to each of us to make the change to be the best we can be."
Marin won America East Women's Swimmer of the Week and Rattsev won Male Swimmer of the Week for their performances against the Tigers.
The Dawgs would then return to campus fired up Two weeks after their heartbreaking loss to Towson, they cruised past VMI, winning all but one event.
Twenty-two different swimmers earned golds on the day. Freshman Kylie Kelly was the only swimmer to finish first in two events. Early in the meet, Kelly won the 200 yard-freestyle in a time of 1:57.41 and she also placed first in the 400-individual medley, touching in at 4:38.78. Seven other Retriever freshman finished first for the first time in the black and gold.
For the third time, Rattsev won America East Swimmer of the Week, while freshman Will Henrickson won America East Diver of the Week for their great performances against the Keydets.
Heading into the nine-team George Mason Invitational, it looked as the Retrievers would turn some heads. Rattsev opened the weekend with a victory in the 50-yard freestyle. Wisner was the other Retriever to pick up gold during the weekend though, capturing the 1650 freestyle on Sunday afternoon. This weekend was all Rattsev, though, as he briefly set a meet record in the 100-yard freestyle during Saturday preliminaries. He finished the day in first, with a time of 44.70. In Saturday's finals, he finished with a 44.61 mark, which was good enough for third place as Drexel's Stathis Malamis re-set the mark with a winning mark of 44.33.
The Dawgs would then start the last month of the season with a victory over the Howard Bison. Rattsev made his presence known again, becoming a part of three pool records. He was a member of both the record-setting 400 medley relay and 800 free relay quartets and his 200 free leg of the 800 was the quickest in UMBC pool history
"Our team was quite tired coming off the team training trip, and they stepped up. We broke every possible pool record we could do today, and kind of beat our expectations, especially in the 400 medley," said Cradock. "We got off the plane yesterday morning, came over [to the pool], trained, and they got here today and were preforming at our best this season. We're excited for the last two dual meets that head into championships."
Wisner also broke a pool record winning the 1650 free at 15:40:37, smashing the previous record by nearly eight seconds.
Seven other Retrievers won on the day. Four Retrievers won the weekly awards, sweeping the acknowledgements. Senior Sotiria Neofytou and Rattsev earned the female and male swimming honors, while senior Devin Gromen and Parker captured their respective diving awards.
Continuing their great start to January, the Dawgs visited George Mason and dominated the Patriots with triumphs on both the men's and women's sides.
The Dawgs won eighteen events, led by three wins from both Marin & Rattsev. Wisner excelled in the distance events winning both the 500- and 1000-yard freestyles.
On Senior Day versus strong East Carolina sides, Rattsev, Committe and Wlochowski all took home the gold. Sweeping the 500 and 1000 freestyle events again, Wisner took his first America East weekly honor, while Parker took home his third diving award of the campaign.
UMBC Aquatic Complex Pool Records Update (Through Regular Season)
200 Freestyle, Ilia Rattsev, 1:39.62, vs. Howard, Jan. 4, 2020
1650 Freestyle, Kai Wisner, 15:40.37 vs. Howard, Jan. 4, 2020
400 Freestyle Relay (Asakawa, Dobbie, Laracuente, Rattsev) vs. East Carolina, Jan. 25, 2020
800 Freestyle Relay (Dobbie, Laracuente, Weigelt, Rattsev) vs. Howard, Jan. 4, 2020
400 Medley Relay (Dobbie, Wlochowski, Galvan, Rattsev) vs. Howard, Jan. 4, 2020
UMBC In America East Championship History
Women's Titles (7): 2019, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2011, 2008, 2007
UMBC, UNH and Boston University each have a league-best seven titles. The Retrievers have finished first or second in 14 of 16 championship appearances… Emily Vance is the America East Championship record holder in the 200-yard backstroke (1:57.61, 2018)… Marin earned the league's Outstanding Rookie of the Meet honor in 2018… She is the two-time defending AE champion in the 100-yard butterfly… Devin Gromen captured the 1-meter diving competition as a freshman in 2017… Head Coach Chad Cradock and his staff have earned Staff of the Year honors in 2015, 2017 and 2019.
Men's Titles (11): 2019, 2018, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004
UMBC has won 11 of the 12 championships, finishing in second to Boston University in 2012… The league did not hold championships from 2014-17… The Retrievers amassed a championship record 1113.5 points in 2019, surpassing their previous mark by 0.5 points (2018)… Luis Galvan is the current America East Championship record-holder in both the 100 (55.05, 2018) and 200-yard (1:58.77) breaststroke events… The Retrievers have won the Outstanding Swimmer Award in each of the last four years, including Rattsev earning the 2018 honor… Three Retrievers – Wisner (2018), Zuric and Matt Bennici (co-winners, 2019) have earned Outstanding Rookie of the Meet honors… Parker won the 3-meter diving competition in 2018. .. Cradock has earned Coach of the Year honors seven times (2004-05, 2010-11, 2013, 2018-19).
The following Retrievers will be defending their America East titles in 2020:
Rattsev – 50, 100, 200 freestyle
Wlochowksi – 500 freestyle
Wisner – 1650 freestyle, 400 I.M.
Jack Carlisle – 100, 200 butterfly
Galvan – 200 breaststroke
Head Coach Chad Cradock (UMBC, '97) is leading the Retrievers for the 19th season. A member of UMBC's Athletics Hall of Fame as a competitor, he has an overall coaching record of 246-94-1. The native of Barrie, Ontario, Canada is 129-35-1 on the men's side and 117-59 with the women.
Cradock is assisted by Chris Gibeau and Nikola Trajkovic. The head diving coach is Petar Trifonov.
