EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Drury men's and women's swimming and diving will embark on their respective quests for a national championship Tuesday (March 10) when the 2026 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships get underway at Deaconess Aquatic Center.
The Championships open Tuesday evening with the 800 freestyle relay competition starting at 6 p.m. (CT). The meet will continue Wednesday through Saturday, with preliminaries beginning at 10 a.m., and finals commencing at 5:30 p.m.
This year's Championship meet will once again be streamed live on NCAA.com. Live results for the meet will be available through the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championship Central website.
PANTHERS AT THE 2025 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Drury men claimed the team title at the 2025 NCAA Championships before vacating the crown and officially placing third, while the DU women's program finished as the national runner-up, marking its top national finish since 2021.
Drury took the top spot in the team standings with 525 points, 74 better than defending champion Tampa, who finished second. McKendree finished third with 349 points, and Grand Valley State was fourth with 291.5.
As expected, the women's race to the national championship came down to the final event of the five-day meet. Nova Southeastern's win in the 400 free relay gave the defending national champs enough to get past the Panthers by 12 points, winning 475-463 in one of the closest finishes in meet history. Colorado Mesa finished third with 376 points, and Indianapolis was fourth with 346.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES
- The Drury men team wil be seeking their 23rd national title and their 21st under head coach Brian Reynolds; Reynolds has guided the Panthers to 13 national championships at the NCAA-II level, including its most recent win in 2014.
- DU has also logged top three-finishes in five-straight NCAA Championships and 42 top-three finishes overall since 1971.
- On the women's side, DU will be aiming for its 14th overall national crown -- all under Reynolds' direction -- with 10 coming at the NCAA-II level, with the Panthers' most recent title coming in 2014.
- Since 1992, the DU women have recorded 31 top-three finishes in 33 Championship meets, including three in a row; the Panthers failed to finish among the top two teams in just six of those Championship appearances.
- Leading the way for the men is junior Ivan Adamchuk, who claimed three individual titles at last year's NCAA meet in Indianapolis, where he totaled 61 points to help the Panthers' cause; he won gold in the 100 back (46.06), 200 back (1:41.18) and 200 IM (1:43.19), while also earning All-America honors with DU's 200 and 400 medley relays.
- Senior Lucas Mineur also enjoyed a strong 2025 Championship run, clocking All-America laurels in the 50 free, 100 free and 200 free, while helping the 400 medley relay team to a national crown.
- Alvaro Zornoza was a part of the Panthers' runner-up finishes in the 400 free and 800 free relays, in addition to a second-place individual finish in the 100 back and a third-place showing in the 200 back.
- Yuri Cabral also returns to the NCAA Championships after logging a total four individual All-America honors and six relay citations over the past two national meets.
- Likewise Joao Nogueira will be shooting for another standout performance at the NCAA meet after logging three-straight top five finishes in the 400 IM and 10 total individual All-America honors over the past three years.
- On the women's side, the Panthers will be led by a pair of experienced performers on the national stage in seniors Ashlyn Moore and Maria Fe Munoz, who have combined for 24 All-America honors during their time at Drury.
- Moore has racked up individual honors in the last three 50 free competitions at the NCAA meet, in addition to nine different DU relay teams that have garnered All-America laurels.
- Munoz has logged individual All-America nods in each of the last three 200 fly, 200 IM and 400 IM events at the national meet, in addition to a sixth-place finish in the 200 back last year.
- Gwen Bergum will look to follow up a a sixth-place finish in last year's 200 breast competition, as well as an eighth-place showing in the 400 IM at the 2025 Championships.
- Belen Morales has been a relay standout for the Panthers, helping three different DU squads (400 free, 400 medley and 800 free) to national runner-up finishes at last year's meet.
2026 GLVC CHAMPIONSHIP REVIEW
Despite valiant efforts and battling eventual dual champion Indianapolis down to the wire, Drury's men's and women's swimming and diving squads finished second at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Swimming and Diving Championships Saturday at Deaconess Aquatic Center.
Drury posted a strong final day that included Alvaro Zornoza's GLVC Championship record-breaking time of 1:42.67 in the 200 back and relay wins for both the men and women in the 400 free relay to cap a strong week in Evansville. Additionally, Lucas Mineur broke a GLVC Championship record in the 50 free, as the senior posted a time of 19.58 to claim gold.
Indianapolis swept both the men's and women's team titles, with the Greyhounds (1853.50) edging the DU men (1632) by 221.5 points, while the UIndy (1882) women pulled off a narrow 32-point victory over the Panthers (1850) to unseat the defending GLVC champs.
The highlight of the evening for Drury was the 1-2 finish for the Panthers in the 200 back, with not only Zornoza's time eclipsing Patryk Rozenek's GLVC mark of 1:43.04, but also silver-medalist Ivan Adamchuk's 1:43.01 surpassing the previous record by the slimmest of margins. Max Hagl (1:46.73) delivered a strong performance for DU as well, placing seventh.
Drury also turned in strong efforts in sweeping the two (400 free) relay events, with the women's team consisting of Belen Morales, Nikol Maniko, Whitney Stortz and Ashlyn Moore posting a victorious time of 3:20.93, just missing the GLVC Championship record by 0.23 of a second. Likewise, the DU men cruised to a win in the same event, with Marwane Sebbata, Yuri Cabral, Lucas Mineur and Matteo Vissotto turning in a time of 2:53.35.
FOLLOW THE PANTHERS
For all the latest information on Drury swimming and diving, visit drurypanthers.com. For Championship updates and results througout the week in Evansville, follow the Panthers on Instagram.
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