MONTEREY PARK, Ca. – The UC Santa Cruz men's swim and dive team earned the 2025 Pacific Collegiate Swim Conference Championship after four days of action, scoring 1605.5 points with Biola University taking second with 1425 points. The Championship Title is the programs first since 2020. On the women's side, UC Santa Cruz earned a spot on the podium, taking third place with 1035.5 points, narrowly defeating Biola University who finished in fourth with 1011 points. The third place finish is the team's first time on the podium since 2012. The UC Santa Cruz coaching staff earned 2025 PCSC Men's Swim and Dive Coaching Staff of the Year honors to cap off the night with the Slugs being led by Head Coach Matt Crawford, Associate Head Coach Hailey Harlich, and assistant coaches
Giovanni Wenzler and
Ariel Rittenhouse.
Men's Meet Highlights
- 3m Dive: Charles Shortt led the Banana Slugs in the 3m dive, earning a silver medal after recording 278.50 points in the six dive competition. Ben Thiam earned a fourth place finish with 243.15 points while Trevor Masters took fifth with 227.15 points.
- 1650 Free: Michael Fusinati led the way for UC Santa Cruz with a fifth place performance, touching the wall in 16:14.10.
- 100 Free: Andrew Koika took home the bronze medal after touching the wall in 44.91 seconds with Kyle Reitan and Massimo Reyna taking fourth and seventh in 45.22s and 45.66s.
- 200 Back: Asher Kates earned a silver medal with a 1:49.57 in the 200 back with Brandon Le taking eighth in 1:55.33.
- 200 Breast: The Slugs saw Karsten Hsiao earn an individual Title in the 200 breast, dropping 2.32 seconds off his seed time to win the event in 2:02.07.
- 400 Free Relay: The Slugs relay team of Andrew Koika, Kyle Reitan, Bryson Schmid, and Massimo Reyna ended the night in the best way possible, securing the gold medal after a back and forth battle to the wall. The Slugs combined for a time of 2:59.14, dropping 3.84 seconds off their seed time to edge out Fresno Pacific by .08 seconds.
Women's Meet Highlights
- 1650 Free: Honour Dufresne led the charge for UCSC in the mile, touching the wall in 17:44.46 to take sixth while Piper Strickler took seventh in 17:48.12.
- 100 Free: Tereza Shea was the top finisher for UC Santa Cruz in the 100 free, finishing the race in 52.40s to take 11th overall.
- 200 Back: Maddy Gruender took sixth in the 200 back, touching the wall in 2:06.68.
- 200 Breast: Kirsten Boyle led the way for UCSC in the 200 breast, finishing in fifth with a time of 2:21.11 while Lily Wolfinger and Gretta Bellin took seventh and eighth with times of 2:22.08 and 2:24.28.
- 400 Free Relay: Katy Hawk, Maddy Gruender, Kirsten Boyle, and Tereza Shea combined for a time of 3:29.58 to take fourth overall.
