Men’s and women’s swim and dive secured second straight Empire 8 title
Photo courtesy of Geneseoknights.com
Over the course of last week, the Blue Wave was able to gain another title by winning its second straight Empire 8 championship. The competition lasted four days, but Geneseo was ahead of the competition for the entire week. They had 1184.5 points, and it was their 12th straight conference title. On the men’s side, junior Alex Palmer and senior Greg Meder were named swimmer and diver of the meet. For the women, it was junior Alex Sotek and freshman Morgan Davey. Their coaches, Paul Dotterwiech, Noah Farmer, and Shaun Austin, were named the coaching staff of the meet. Alex Palmer and senior Erin Johannsen were named the 2026 Torchbearers, which honors the athlete with the highest cumulative GPA between the top two teams.
First-place finishers were in surplus for the women's team. Not only did senior Abby Funk start by winning the 500-yard freestyle, but senior Hannah Brockman and freshman Maura O’Donnell helped by sweeping the entire podium. In the 200-yard individual medley (IM), freshman Chloe Marcyan secured another first-place win for the Knights. Alex Sotek also won the 50-yard free with a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) B cut qualifying time of 23.21. All of these accomplishments were achieved within the first day of the championships. The Knights still had three days left to make an impact, and that's exactly what they did.
Throughout the rest of the week, the women controlled the top of the leaderboard. Funk, Brockman, and sophomore Thalia Marquez swept the podium once again for the 200-yard free. Sotek added another win with the 100-yard butterfly. Chloe Marcyan also gained another first-place finish in the 400-yard IM in her own league, outswimming her closest competitor by three seconds. Marcyan was not done as she also cleaned up with a win in the 200-yard butterfly. For the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke, junior Emily Thomas was the first one to touch the wall. The diving team held their own as they won both the 1-meter and 3-meter with help from Morgan Davey and senior Lydia Benjamin.
The men were equally impressive in taking care of business for the Blue Wave. Alex Palmer won three events, including the 200-yard IM, 100-yard breaststroke, and the 200-yard breaststroke. Not only did he win all three events, but every time he earned a time that qualified him for an NCAA B cut time. Junior Brian Pabisch added fuel to the fire by adding another two wins for the Knights. He won the 50- and 100-yard freestyle.
The men’s relays had an outstanding showing and won every event. For the 400-yard IM, the team of sophomore Dylan Gallub, Palmer, junior Connor Baird, and senior Jake Nielsen crushed the competition with a time of 3:20.51. The next day, during the 200-yard freestyle, Pabisch, Nielsen, freshman Peter Peyser, and Gallub took first again with a short time of 1:20.62. Blue Wave was not finished on the third day, as the 200-yard medley team of Gallub, Pabisch, Palmer, and Nielsen started strong with another win. The 800-medley relay team also took a win with a time of 6:53.54. Their relay team was made up of Nick Lemmo, Casey Connors, Gannon Moore, and Peter Peyser.
Blue Wave did a stellar job in both the swimming and diving aspects of their meet—if all of the podium finishes were listed, it would take up multiple pages in The Lamron. Each year, they win their respective conference without any competition and have created a legacy for Geneseo. Be sure to keep up with their athletes as they have a substantial number attending the NCAAs in a couple of weeks.