The Drury men’s swimming/diving program dates back to 1968-69 and from that humble beginning the program has grown into the dominant power in the NCAA-II. National championships at the NAIA level in the 1980’s and 1990’s have been followed by similar success at the NCAA-II level. In fact, the Drury men’s swimming/diving program has raised the bar even higher by claiming the last seven straight NCAA-II national titles and eight of the last nine national championships.
It is no coincidence that the string of consecutive national titles started during the time that a young swimmer from the Czech Republic joined the Panther swimming team. A 2003-04 mid-year addition, Jakub Jiracek joined the Drury swimming team and that year’s Panther team finished second at the NCAA-II national championships. That was the last time Drury failed to win the national title as the Panthers claimed the national title in 2005...and they have not looked back since.
While the Panthers, as a team, finished second in the nation in 2004, the fact that Jakub Jiracek was a dominant force was obvious from the start of his college career. As a freshman, Jakub earned team MVP honors by claiming national titles in the 100 and 200 breaststroke events and claiming national titles in the 200 and 400 individual medley events. Four individual national titles...and he was also a part of three relay teams that finished second (200 medley relay and 800 free relay) and third (400 medley relay). The cold days in Buffalo, N.Y. in March of 2004 saw sunny days on the horizon.
Jakub was the Drury team MVP in both 2005 and 2006, the first two years of the program’s current string of seven (and counting) NCAA-II national championships. Individually in his three years at Drury, Jakub won a NCAA-II record-tying 10 national championships. He won the 400 IM and the 200 breaststroke events three straight years (2004, 2005, 2006) and also both the 100 breaststroke and the 200 IM in 2004 and 2006...10 titles which equalled the NCAA-II record for titles won by an individual.
Jakub graduated from Drury on August 12, 2006 (Business Administration) and his Drury Hall-of-Fame career was over...but not his college swimming career. Jakub began his pursuit of his Master’s Degree at Seattle University where he also used his one last semester of NCAA eligibility to become the all-time record holder in NCAA-II swimming history with 11 individual national titles. At the NCAA-II National Swimming/Diving Championships Jakub set that record by winning the 200 breaststroke on March 17, 2008...ironically in his “home” state of Missouri (at the University of Missouri). His career was over and in June of 2009 he earned his Masters of Science Degree in Finance from Seattle University.
Jakub is employed by CitiGroup Global Markets and currently lives in Wichita Falls, Texas...but plans are to move to Dallas in the next few months. Jakub handles equity underwriting as a product control analyst for CitiGroup where he has been employed for the past three years. He is accompanied today by his friend of more than five years, Jernine Carter. A physical therapist, Jernine is also a Drury graduate and was a member of the Drury women’s tennis team.
Jakub’s career with CitiGroup started in Buffalo (the site of his first NCAA-II National Championship) where he helped the University of Buffalo swimming team. He was also involved in with the Multiple Sclerosis Society and he and Jernine hope to resume those efforts after their move to Dallas.
In summary, Jakub was a member of the Drury swimming team for three years and was the team’s MVP all three years. A 20-plus time All-American, his career culminated by becoming the all-time leader in national titles won by an individual at the NCAA-II level.
The Drury men’s swimming and diving program is over 40 years old and 12 Panther swimmers have been enshrined into the Sports Hall of Fame to date. That elite group has now added one of its greatest as Jakub Jiracek is enshrined as a member of the Class of 2011 on this date: November 19, 2011.
