The Drexel Men’s Swimming and Diving Team competed in the West Virginia Invitational held in Morgantown, WV Nov. 16-18. The Invitational is a competition open to multiple teams that offer a broader range of events and deeper and faster competition in which athletes work on self-improvement. Drexel competed against 12 different schools, including the United Naval Academy and George Washington University.
DU started off strong on the first day of the competition, which consisted of the Prelims (500 free, 200IM and 50 free), the Finals (200 Free Relay, 500 Free, 200IM, 50 Free and 400 Medley Relay) and Diving (1m Prelims and Finals). Taking home the silver medal, Drexel Men’s 400 medley relay team, consisting of swimmers Dimi Gkelis, Kacper Karnik, Jakub Kwasny and Sebastian Smith seized second place at a time of 3:13.88. Smith and Kwasny also took fourth place in the 200 free relay along with teammates Nathan Piccolo and Alasdair Bell at a finish time of 1:21.35.
The team crushed competition on the second day of the Invitational, which was met with four different medals and moved Drexel from sixth place to fourth among the twelve standings. At a time of 48.41, Gkelis took home third in the 100 back. Kwasny placed second in the 100 flies with a time of 46.77 and Karnik, at a time of 53.57, took home third in the 100 breast.
Drexel ended on a high note on the third and last day of the Invitational. Karnik took second place in the 200 breasts at a time of 2:00.41. Teammates Alessio Gianni, Colton Wade, Smith, and Andrea Casini completed third place in the 400 free relay with a time of 2:59.92. Casini also was at the top of the podium with a gold medal for his 100 free swim-off time of 45.22.
The team represented the school well and made Drexel proud. Across the three days, the team won a total of two gold medals, four silver medals, and two bronze medals. Their total put Drexel in fourth place among the 12 teams competing with a total score of 852.5.