EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Both Drury swimming and diving squads enjoyed strong overall performances on the first full day of competition at the 2026 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships, led by top-three finishes from Gwen Bergum and Alvaro Zornoza in the 200 IM. Bergum earned a runner-up finish with her time of 1:59.11, while Zornoza (1:44.61) placed third in the men's competition to lead a contingent of 11 Panthers who registered individual All-America performances Wednesday evening at Deaconess Aquatic Center.

Both Drury squads improved their respective positions in the team standings, including the men's team rising to the top position. Drury concluded the night with 152 points, just three ahead of second-place Tampa (149), with Colorado Mesa (139) close behind in third and fellow GLVC schools Indianapolis (120) and McKendree (86.5) rounding out the top five.
 
Nova Southeastern continues to lead women's standings with 163 points, followed by Tampa (129.5) in second and the Panthers (94) in third. Indianapolis (87) and West Florida (81) ended the day in fourth and fifth, respectively.

The Panthers turned in a dominant collective effort in the 200 IM, with the DU men placing four swimmers among the top nine, while three Drury women finished in the top eight. In addition to Zornoza's bronze-worthy effort, freshman Belhassen Ben Miled (1:44.83) finished fifth to earn his first All-America honor. Two DU veterans, Ivan Adamchuk (1:44.91) and Joao Nogueira (1:44.16), each earned his third All-American honor in the 200 IM, with Adamchuk placing sixth and Nogueira winning the consolation final to take ninth.

In the women's 200 IM final, Bergum's personal best in the event was followed by Maria Fe Munoz (2:00.96) -- who earned All-America honors for the fourth consecutive year in the event -- in sixth for a second-straight year, and Nikol Maniko (2:01.72) improving her 2025 finish by three spots to the eighth position.

Drury also produced a pair of All-America efforts in the men's 50 free, with Lucas Mineur (19.60) improving on his sixth-place finish from a year ago with a fifth-place effort this time, and Yuri Cabral (19.87) clocking an eighth-place effort for his second top-10 finish in the event in three years. 

A pair of Panthers also turned in top 16 finishes in the 1000 free, with Matteo Vissotto logging a swim of 9:05.47 to place 10th in the men's competition, while freshman Rianne Rose (10:14.41) notched a 16th-place effort. Vissotto improved his finish five spots from last year, when he placed 15th, while Rose earned her first All-America citation as a Panther.

Both Drury 200 medley relay squads finished among the top eight teams in the night's lone relay event. The Drury men earned their second national runner-up finish to an NCAA-II record-setting performance in as many nights, with the quartet of Adamchuk, Nogueira, Cabral and Mineur finishing in 1:24.63 to earn silver. On the women's side of the ledger, Yevheniia Zhukova, Bergum, Munoz and Petra Baumane (1:40.17) delivered a seventh-place performance.
  
Day three of the NCAA Championships gets underway Thursday with preliminary heats at 10 a.m. (CT).

NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships
Thursday, March 12
Live Results | Watch live on NCAA.com

Prelims | 10 a.m. (Central)

• #12 Women 100 Fly Prelims
• #13 Men 100 Fly Prelims
• #14 Women 400 IM Prelims
• #15 Men 400 IM Prelims
• #16 Women 200 Free Prelims
• #17 Men 200 Free Prelims
• #18 Women 3 mtr Diving Prelims

Finals | 5:30 p.m. (Central)

• #12 Women 100 Fly Finals
• #13 Men 100 Fly Finals
• #14 Women 400 IM Finals
• #15 Men 400 IM Finals
• #16 Women 200 Free Finals
• #17 Men 200 Free Finals
• #18 Women 3 mtr Diving Finals
• #19 Women 400 Medley Relay
• #20 Men 400 Medley Relay

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