Falcons Win All Seven Swimming Events on Day Three of WAC Championships

HOUSTON, Texas – The Air Force Academy men's swimming and diving team had a monumental day three at the 2020 WAC Championships, Friday afternoon, Feb. 28, at the CRWC Natatorium on the campus of the University of Houston. AF competed in seven swimming events, and took gold in all seven, while also setting four new school records.

"Today was hands down the greatest day in Air Force men's swimming and diving history," Head Coach Rob Clayton remarked. "It was an amazing day with the seven event wins, and the guys just keep getting better and better."

Due to the water main break in the city of Houston, Friday's events were adjusted to make the prelims a timed finals event. The men's 1M dive event was also contested. AF has totaled 577 points to remain in first place, leading second place UNLV by 139.

Beginning with the first event of the day, the 200 free relay, the squad of sophomores Matthew Lattin, Corey Shepard, and Andrew Limpert, as well as senior Cole McAnany, took gold with a 1:19.23, setting a new season best time.

Then it was time for the individual events, beginning with the 400 IM. Sophomore Adam Grimm raced to first with a 3:49.53, good for the third-fastest time in program history. Sophomore Logan Davis and junior Vincent Vivadelli also scored points with seventh and ninth place finishes, respectively.

In the 100 fly, Lattin came out of nowhere to take gold, clocking in with a new school record time of 46.92, breaking Steffen Mount's record set back in 2017 (47.21). Sophomore Aaron Pang and Limpert also finished top-10, with Pang taking fifth and Limpert sixth. Pang's time of 47.47 was the fourth-fastest in AF history, while Limpert's 47.54 was fifth-fastest.

Moving to the 200 free, freshman Wen Zhang had what Coach Clayton said was the "upset of the meet" as he took first place with a blazing 1:33.93 to re-break his school record set on Wednesday, and just finish shy of the WAC record, as well as an NCAA A cut. Also in the top-10 was freshman Jaykob Williams, as he took ninth with a 1:37.50, the tenth-fastest 200 free in Academy history.

The Falcons then dominated the 100 breast, as senior Zach Nelson won his second crown of the weekend with a 52.46, good for the second-fastest time in program history. AF then had three more in the top-10, with freshman Tory Bartlett taking fifth (54.79), junior Brendan Richichi sixth (55.06), and senior Andrew Weiss eighth (55.19). Bartlett's time was the seventh-quickest in AF history, while Richichi improved upon his 10th fastest time.

In the 100 back finals, AF went 1-2 punch with Gwin taking gold and McAnany silver. For Gwin, he improved upon his school record time with a 46.60, while McAnany improved his time to second-fastest with a 46.72.

The final swimming event of the day was then the 400 medley relay, and AF wasn't done winning and setting new records. The squad of Gwin, Nelson, Pang, and Lattin combined for a new school record time of 3:08.96, breaking the record set back in 2017. The Falcons finished almost two second ahead of the second place UNLV squad.

Finally, the finals of the 1M diving competition were also held today, and AF had junior Cole Armagost take fourth, while freshman Brett Jenkins placed seventh.

"We're swimming incredible and controlling the meet at this point," Clayton continued. "We're excited for what tomorrow will bring and we're enjoying the reward of all the hard work these guys have put in coming to fruition."

The 2020 WAC Championships will conclude tomorrow, Feb. 29, with the final seven events. Action is set to begin at 9 a.m. and all events will be timed finals.

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