LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Bellarmine University men's and women's swim teams are underway in their third season in Division I.
 
The Knights opened their season on Sunday at the Butler Double Dual and will compete 10 more times in the regular season which ends in January.  Bellarmine will also send swimmers to the CCSA Swimming & Diving Championships scheduled for Feb. 15-18 in Knoxville, Tenn.
 
"Overall, we have had a much improved working environment in our training sessions which has been much enhanced by having four coaches on deck to provide feedback and encouragement to our swimmers," Knights Head Coach John Brucato said heading into the season.

Brucato returns for his 11^th season as the men's and women's swim coach in 2022-23.  He is joined by Gord Veldman, who was promoted to full-time assistant coach this summer.  Veldman has been coaching the Bellarmine programs, however, for the past eight years.  Grace (Roegner) McCormick and Mariia Astashkina are also on the coaching staff.

Last year represented the first full season of action in the Division I era for both squads.  The men's and women's teams both earned their first wins since joining DI against Centre College last season.  The Bellarmine women also claimed wins versus Butler and Eastern Illinois.  The men's team also bested EIU for its second win of the 2021-22 season.
 
At the CCSA Championships, the men's squad earned nine top-10 finishes, including a silver medal performance in the 200 butterfly from Matthew Sims.  Anna Holt had the best finish at the CCSA Championships for the women, placing fifth in the 200 butterfly. 
 
Overall, multiple program record-setting performances were earned at the CCSA Championships in February:
 
Men's Individual:
-Will O'Connor (20.77 in the 50 freestyle)
-Matthew Sims (1:41.27 in the 200 freestyle)
-Daniel Sims (1:50.02 in the 200 IM)
 
Men's Relay:
-Jacob Dray, Aubrey Archer Adams, Logan Jackson, Will O'Connor (1:23.33 in the 200 freestyle)
-Matthew Sims, Brandon Thomas, Greyson Williams, Daniel Sims (6:49.94 in the 800 freestyle)
 
Women's Individual:
-Maya Sorensen (26:54 in the 50 backstroke)
 
While Bellarmine brings back an impressive group of young talent, many elite swimmers from last season graduated. 
 
Matthew Sims finished his remarkable Bellarmine career as the program record holder in the 200 freestyle (1:41.27), 200 butterfly (1:45.62), and 400 IM (3:56.80).  He was a 2x Division II All-American in the 200 butterfly (2019 and 2020) and earned Bellarmine's first Division I individual conference championship in the 200 butterfly in 2021.  His brother, Daniel, finished his Bellarmine career as the program record holder in the 200 breaststroke (2:00.25), 100 IM (53.70), 200 IM (1:50.02), and 400 IM (3:56.80).  He medaled twice in Bellarmine's first DI conference championships (2021 CCSA Championships), earning silver in the 200 breaststroke and bronze in the 800 freestyle relay. 
 
For the women, Rachel Walker finished her illustrious Bellarmine career as a record holder in 10 events – the 100 freestyle (51.76), 200 freestyle (1:50.74), 500 freestyle (4:57.55), 1000 freestyle (10:10.81), 1650 freestyle (16:55.07), and 100 butterfly (55:01).  She was also part of the record-holding 400 freestyle relay team (3:31.98), 800 freestyle relay team (7:39.71), 200 medley relay team (1:42.04), and 400 medley relay team (3:45.57)…Named a Division II All-American in the 500 freestyle and Honorable-Mention All-American in the 200 medley relay and 400 medley relay in 2020.  Maya Sorensen also graduated, finishing her Bellarmine career as the program record-holder in the 50 backstroke (26.54) and 100 backstroke (57.70).  She was part of the record-holding 200 medley relay team (1:42.04) and 400 medley relay team (3:45.57), along with being named a Division II Honorable-Mention All-American in the 200 medley relay and 400 medley relay.
 
As for this season, the women's team returns senior Anna Holt, who claimed Bellarmine's best individual finish at the 2022 CCSA Championships (fifth in the 200 butterfly).  Holt also won CCSA Swimmer of the Week last November.   Alexandra Pierce returns for her sophomore season after earning four first place finishes last year, along with junior Liz Stevenson who claimed a pair of firsts last year.
 
Other seniors joining Holt are Caraline Baker, Kayla Effinger, Kerry Effinger, Olivia Hopper, and Lauren Rowe. 
 
Alongside Stevenson in the junior class are Morgan Bender, Mackenzie Conger, Emily Kuprion, Grace Lough, Megan McEwen, Caroline McMillin, and Ashley Owen.
 
The sophomore swimmers with Pierce this season are Johnnise Garcia, and Megan Wills.
 
The freshmen group for the Bellarmine women's team consists of Luiza Bonardi, Abby Caudill, Lauren Diercks, and Lauren Peters.

"With the women's team, our primary goal is to un-tap the potential of every individual," Brucato added. "I believe our strength is the power and capacity for total investment in each other daily and every teammate understanding the importance of the role they play in achieving this. We have several potential point scorers at our conference championships from flyer and distance swimmer Anna Holt - our most consistent scorer at last year's meets - to first year swimmer Lauren Diercks in the backstroke."

For the men, senior Jacob Dray is back after recording three first place finishes last season.  Dray has also previously had big success at the CCSA Championships with a silver medal in the 100 butterfly in 2021.  Fellow senior Will O'Connor holds the program record in the 50 freestyle, which earned him a top-10 finish at the 2022 CCSA Championships.  Sophomore Brandon Thomas is also back after racing to five first-place finishes last season.  Thomas earned CCSA Swimmer of the Week in November of last season.
 
The seniors joining Dray and O'Connor on the roster this year are Aubrey Archer Adams, Logan Jackson, Sam Russell, and Brendan Verna.
 
The junior swimmers this season consist of Tyler Diercks, Nicholas Green, Keegan Henderson, Andrew Nguyen, Carter Reynolds, Kenton Whiteley, and Greyson Williams.
 
Alongside Thomas in the sophomore class are Matt Carrico, Tanner Dunn, and John Paul Metzner.
 
The freshman class is made up of Liam Connelly, Cason Henderson, Caleb Howard, Sam Jones, Brady Koval, Anthony Nasrallah, Jack Proctor, Blake Whiteley, and Drew Wolfram.

"We have more versatility and therefore balance on the men's team than any year previous," Brucato said.  "What's very encouraging is our ability to race from seniors like Jacob Dray and Will O'Connor to our new swimmers like Blake Whiteley and Cason Henderson in 200 backstroke and butterfly respectively." 
 
Bellarmine is next scheduled to compete in a double dual versus Saint Louis University and UMSL this Saturday at 3:00 p.m. in Saint Louis.

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