GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UC Santa Cruz men's swim and dive team wrapped up the four day NCAA Division III Swim and Dive Championships on Saturday evening. The Banana Slugs earned a 29th place team finish, ending the Championships with 27 points, earning All-American honors in the 50 free, 200 free relay, and 400 free relay.
The team's 29th place finish marks the program's best finish since the 2017 NCAA Division III Swim and Dive Championships when the Banana Slugs finished in 20th as a team.
On Thursday, the Banana Slugs picked up Second Team All-American honors following a stellar performance in the 200 free relay. Kyle Reitan, Andrew Koika, Charles, Hussain, and Adam Sinclair earned the last spot in the Consolation Final following a morning performance of 1:21.45 but turned up the heat in their second swim to end the Thursday action. The group turned in a 1:20.65, dropping .80 seconds off their prelim time to take 11th place overall.
On Friday, the Banana Slugs narrowly missed the cut for the second swim in the 200 medley relay as Hussain, Sinclair, Koika, and Reitan combined for a time of 1:32.05 to take 21st overall. The Slugs ended the day with a strong showing in the 800 free relay, dropping .70 seconds off their seed time as Massimo Reyna, Bryson Schmid, Hussain, and Sinclair combined for a time of 6:50.63, finishing in 18th place.
On the final day of action, the Banana Slugs did just enough to earn a second swim in the 400 free relay, earning the 16th spot as Reitan, Koika, Schmid, and Reyna combined for a time of 3:00.36 to take 16th. The group closed out the NCAA Championships with Second Team All-American honors after swimming a 3:00.98 to finish in 16th overall.
While the majority of the action of UC Santa Cruz came by way of relays across the four day competition, Andrew Koika and Kyle Reitan also made individual appearances. Koika competed in the 50 free and 100 fly, taking 22nd and 31st, respectively, swimming 20.27s and 48.96s. Most notably, Kyle Reitan highlighted the Slugs' efforts, entering the week as the 28 seed in the 50 free but coming away with a First Team All-American honors following a sixth place performance in the Championship final, dropping .40 seconds off his seed time in the prelim before swimming 19.95s for the second time of the day in the final.
