Southern Illinois University’s swim and dive teams will conclude their home schedule this weekend with two meets at the Dr. Edward J. Shea Natatorium in Carbondale, Illinois. On Friday, the Salukis will compete against McKendree University, followed by a women’s meet against Vanderbilt University on Saturday. The Saturday event will also serve as Southern’s Special Olympics meet.
The men’s team is coming off a loss to Purdue last Friday, 207-103, but saw individual wins from Carter Ruthven and Juraj Barcot. Alex Cimera secured victories in both the 200-freestyle and 100-freestyle events. The following day, during Senior Day, both the men’s and women’s teams defeated Evansville (221-78 for men; 225-59 for women), while Indiana State’s women’s squad beat Southern’s women’s team 156-140. Event winners included Joshua Aceves, Susy Hernandez, Willem Huggins, Liseska Gallegos Gutierrez, Olivia Herron, Maddax Thompson, Nate Worsham, Bendek Andor, Oliver Mebs, Barcot, and Cimera.
Earlier this week, Cimera and Hernandez were recognized by the Missouri Valley Conference as Men’s and Women’s Swimmers of the Week. According to the release: “Cimera ended up collecting four individual wins between the two meets as well as one relay win. As for Hernandez, she won two individual events on Saturday while also being a part of one relay-winning team.”
McKendree enters Friday’s meet with a 3-1 record for its men’s team and a 1-2 record for its women’s team. Their most recent competition saw the Bearcats’ men defeat Washington (St. Louis) 157-123 while their women lost 179-109. Both Southern Illinois and McKendree previously competed at the Mizzou Invitational in November.
Vanderbilt’s women’s team holds a 2-5 record this season and recently lost to San Diego. They have not won a traditional meet since defeating McKendree on November 1.
Saturday’s matchup against Vanderbilt will highlight athletes from The Big Muddy Crew—a regional Special Olympics Illinois team—who will participate in a 25-yard exhibition during the first break of the meet. A Chuck-a-Duck fundraiser will run throughout the event to benefit Special Olympics Illinois.
Fans can follow updates on Twitter at @SIU_SwimDive or Instagram at @siu_swimdive.
