For those who insist 13 is an unlucky number, UMBC men’s swimming and diving is here to prove otherwise. Last weekend, the Retrievers reclaimed the 2022 America East Championship title to win their 13th championship out of 15 appearances.
Four days of intense battle at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Massachusetts culminated in a sweep of the men’s six events in the final day of competition. After narrowly falling to Binghamton for the championship last year, the Retrievers posted 921.5 total points to runner-up Binghamton’s 874.5.
UMBC women’s swimming and diving earned second place at their championship meet.
Collecting hardware
Niklas Weigelt ‘23, economics, reclaimed the meet’s Outstanding Swimmer award for the second year in a row.
“I’m very proud to be part of this program,” says Weigelt. “The progress we’ve made in the past year is unbelievable. The team came together to make the 2022 championships one to remember.”
Weigelt poses with the America East Outstanding Swimmer plaque.
Oliver Gassmann ‘25, undergraduate studies, earned Outstanding Rookie honors in his first year of competition. Luka Zuric ‘22, statistics, closed out his senior year with the David Alexander Coaches’ award for most points earned over four league championship meets.
UMBC women’s team just missed their championship win, ultimately coming in second place with 752.5 points. Caroline Sargent ‘22, psychology, earned the Outstanding Swimmer award and captured the 200 backstroke, posting the only women’s meet record to be broken in the championships.
Feb. 13, 2022; Worcester, Massachusetts, USA; during the 2022 America East Swimming Championship at the WPI Sports and Recreation Center. Photo by Brian Foley for Foley-Photography.com.
“I am very honored and excited to be named Swimmer of the Meet,” says Sargent. “I’m really grateful for my teammates and coaches for pushing me and I can’t wait to see what comes next.”
Coaching honors
With a short tenure but a big impact, head coach Matt Donovan and his staff collected men’s Coaching Staff of the Year honors. Despite this only being Donovan’s second season at the helm, the crew also took home the Coaching Staff of the Meet award in December during the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) 2021 Winter Championships.
“Since the end of last year’s championship, this men’s team has had one singular focus,” says Donovan. “It was very impressive to see how focused they’ve remained over this past year. We’ve had our share of ups and downs but they never wavered from their ultimate goal. It was truly an impressive feat.”
Read more UMBC Athletics news at umbcretrievers.com.
Header image: The UMBC men’s swimming and diving team celebrates their America East Championship win. All photos courtesy of the America East Conference. Author contributions by Steve Levy, associate athletics director.
