CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Queens men's and women's swimming & diving team begins their highly-anticipated 2023-24 season this weekend in the Levine Aquatic Center on Friday, Sep. 29 against UNC Chapel Hill at 4:30 PM, then quickly heads up the road to Davidson on Saturday, Sep. 30 for an 11:00 AM start.
This will be the first season that Queens will compete as members of the ASUN as the conference announced the addition of the sport on August 28, 2023. This will mark the first time in the program's 14-year tenure that Queens swimming & diving will compete in the same conference as the institution.
"UNC Chapel Hill will be a good test for us," Associate Athletic Director of Creative Services & Director of Swimming Jeff Dugdale said. "We always enjoy a full house when they come to Queens. It is important to swim big ACC and SEC teams to use as a measuring stick and to prepare for the ASUN Conference Championships."
Swimming for the first time at the NCAA Division I level last season, the Queens men's and women's swimming & diving program collected many commendable accolades.
The Queens men's swimming team secured titles at the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) Championship and the National Invitational Championship (NIC). Queens' women finished third at the CCSA Championship and 10th at the NIC.
At the NIC, Sophia Lange tabbed first-place finishes in the 1650 and 1000 freestyle races while Danielle Melilli was part of the women's 400 free relay team that took first place. Matej Dusa secured a top finish as part of the men's 400 free relay squad while also securing first in the men's 200 free.
Heading into their first-awaited ASUN season, Coach Dugdale announced his team captains for the 2023-24 season on July 26, 2023, including Tova Andersson, Sarah Brown, Ryley Heck, Sophia Lange, and Danielle Melilli for the women — and Balazs Berecz, Matej Dusa, Ayden Meierarend, and Yannick Plasil for the men's team. Andersson, Lange, Melilli, Berecz, Dusa, and Plasil have earned captain titles for the second year in a row.
Many current swimmers on the 2023-24 squad earned program records in the 2022-23 season.
Team Captain Melilli, a fifth year from Douglasville, Ga., earned a individual program record with a time of 22.09 in the 50 Freestyle event while also tabbing a record time of 1:29.37 in the 200 Freestyle Relay (along with teammates Gumina, Lawrence, and Heck) in February of 2023.
Annika Huber, a sophomore from Sindelfingen, Germany, currently holds the program record for the 200 Backstroke event with a time of 2:11.19 — also earned in February 2023.
Team captains Lange and Andersson also hold program records — Lange holds the 1,000 Freestyle with a time of 9:48.98 and the 1650 Freestyle with a 16:15.40 while Andersson holds the record time of 56.09 for the 100 Individual Medley. All three records were earned in March of 2023.
As a whole, the women's team has 15 returners and 10 new faces, while the men's team has 26 returners and 10 new faces.
"Our freshman are going to add some much needed depth this season," Dugdale added. "On the women's side, watch for new swimmers Bianca Wettel, Maddie Foster, and Abigail Zboran. All have the potential to make immediate impact. On the men's side, we have Daniel Meszaros, Frantisek Jablcnik [Frank], and Dusa who swam for their countries at the Summer World Championships and can add to the depth and experience [on the team] that already exists."
To keep up with all the action this season, be sure to check out live links on the men's and women's schedules on the Queens Athletics website.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Be sure to follow the Royals men's and women's swimming teams on Instagram and Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest news surrounding the team. Fans are also encouraged to follow Queens Athletics to stay updated on all the Royals sports teams in action by searching @QueensAthletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
