WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (January 15, 2022) - The St. Thomas University (STU) Men's and Women's Swimming teams opened their Spring 2022 campaign against NCAA DII Rollins College. The Bobcats swam tough, but both the men's and women's teams ultimately fell against the depth of the Tars.

Final Scores
Men
Rollins College - 157
St. Thomas - 107

Women
Rollins - 222
St. Thomas - 39


Highlights of the Meet:

Women
The #9 Bobcats fought hard on Saturday, after a long first week back. Mikayla DePover was the lone bright spot, bringing home two 2nd place finishes in the 100 Breastroke (1:08.06) and the 200 Breastroke (2:32.17).

Men
The #3 Bobcats swam toe to toe with many of the Tars, competing until the very end. St. Thomas won the 200 medley relay, out touching the Tar's A relay by 0.16 seconds (1:35.39). The Bobcats had multiple individual winners on the men's side:

Inigo Marina
100 yard Breastroke (58.44), 200 yard Breastroke (2:08.92), 200 yard IM (1:59.83)

The lone quadruple winner of the dual, he showed once again why he is one of the best swimmers in the NAIA.


Sander Lauwers
In the tightest race of the contest, the Bobcats came out on top in the Men's 100 yard Butterfly, with Lauwers out-touching the 2nd place Tar swimmer by 0.17 seconds (52.99). 

Carlos Cartagena 
After not competing at all during the Fall 2021 season, Carlos announced his presence on the Bobcat men's roster with authority on Saturday. He won both the 100 yard backstroke (53.74) and the 200 yard backstroke (1:58.88) scoring critical points for the Bobcats as they battled it out with the Tars. 

He was named the Bobcat's "Swimmer of the Meet," being recognized by his teammates with the 'STU Spoon Award for his outstanding debut performance. 

Coach Asadi on the meet:
"When you look at our record, many assume that we aren't having the best first full season. With swimming, you can't focus too much on the W-L column. This is an individual sport, and I remind our swimmers constantly that their performance depends on the work they do both in and out of the water. We take extreme ownership of every meet, and we see our progress and growth with each swim. 

I am proud of the tough swims I watched, and the competitive spirit this young program is developing. While we are training to win as a program, I know that our athletes and coaching staff are taking this experience today as another opportunity to grow and develop as a team and family."

This is the beginning of a very busy month of January for STU Swimming. The Bobcats will swim next against NCAA DI Florida Atlantic University next Saturday, January 22 in Boca Raton, Fla.