Northwestern returned to Norris Aquatics Center on Saturday for its first meet of the season, sweeping Southern Illinois and Miami (Ohio) 218-76 and 224-76 on the women’s side and 242-58 and 203-97 on the men’s side.
NU opened its season against Miami for the second consecutive season. In last year’s dual meet, NU’s men and women each beat Miami 203-97.
After receiving four votes in the first College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America poll, the women started the year off with dominant performances. Sophomore Zoe Nordmann, a 2025 NCAA qualifier, led the way with two individual victories in the 600-yard freestyle and 300-yard freestyle.
The ’Cats kicked off the meet with wins in the women’s and men’s 200-meter medley relays. Those wins set the tone for the rest of the day, as the men had first-place finishers in 11 of 14 individual events while the women won 8 of 14. The ’Cats’ A and B relay teams finished in first and second place in all four relays.
Junior Sydney Smith, senior Hana Shimizu-Bowers, senior Lindsay Ervin, senior Shauntel Lim, graduate student Ekaterina Nikonova and sophomore Grey Davis also picked up individual victories. Nikonova, who was named to the Big Ten Swimmers and Divers to Watch List, won the 100-yard freestyle in her NU debut after redshirting last season. She transferred in 2024 after three seasons at Florida, where she was a six-time All-American.
In the women’s three-meter dive, the ’Cats had the top five finishers. Lim won the event with a score of 261.45 and also finished in second place in the one-meter dive earlier in the day.
On the men’s side, NU had six different athletes win an individual event. Junior Stuart Seymour, junior David Gerchik and sophomore Joshua Staples — all NCAA qualifiers last winter — won two individual events each. Seymour won the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle, setting a pool record and personal best of 42.66 seconds. He beat the runner-up by nearly two seconds, as SIU senior Alex Cimera finished in 44.42 seconds.
Junior Connor Schuster also set a pool record in the 50-yard freestyle, winning the event in 19.64 seconds.
Junior Adam Cohen and senior Ryan Augustine won the three-meter dive and one-meter dive, respectively. In the three-meter event, Cohen, Augustine and sophomore Kyle Ly swept the podium for the ’Cats.
Schuster, first-year Gipson Crye and junior Diego Nosack rounded out NU’s individual winners. In his collegiate debut, Crye won the 600-yard freestyle with a time of 5:27.16, edging out Miami freshman Luke Pugh, who placed second in 5:30.47.
After opening the season at home, the ’Cats hit the road to compete next in two weeks, traveling to Notre Dame on Oct. 24 and to Michigan on Oct. 25.
Email: [email protected]
Related Stories:
—Swimming and Diving: 14 Northwestern athletes compete at NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships
—Northwestern sets 4 school records at Big Ten Swimming and Diving Championships
—Northwestern Swimming and Diving Programs Open Seasons with Dominant Wins Against Miami (Ohio)
