Danville, KY -  The UC men's swimming & diving team jumped out to an early advantage behind a trio of meet records on day one of the Mid-South Conference Swimming & Diving Championships Thursday night at Centre College.  The Patriots placed first in all six events and tallied 324 points to sit atop the team standings.

Cumberlands set the tone early as Titouan Bernot, Arvid Farro, Adam Geddis, and Alexander Poulsen teaming up to clock a winning time of 1:20.59.  That time broke the meet record and is the second fastest time in the NAIA this season.

Fabrizio Pacioni set the meet record as he led five Patriots swimmers in the finals of the 200 IM.  The freshman clocked a 1:49.87 to break the meet record and finish atop the podium.   Ruthiik Satti touched the wall in 1:51.87 to earn a runner-up finish.  Juan Pablo Ramirez Zapata clocked a 1:51.01 to place fourth, while Zsombor Bene was fifth with a time of 1:54.19.  Joshua Riegler won the consolation final posting a time of 1:56.16.

In the first individual event of the night Bernot pulled away from the field to notch a winning time of 4:29.58 to win the 500 free.  That is the second fastest time in the NAIA this season and clipped the NAIA A cut.  Will Gilbert notched a season-best time of 4:39.24 to place fourth, while Sergio Saldamando Martinez touched the wall in 4:42.93 to finish sixth.  Luke Rich (4:47.81), Jeremiah Koenig (4:46.22), Arda Mutlu (4:47.94) and Eli Urban (4:49.64) all clipped the NAIA provisional cut.

UC swept the podium in the 50 free and recorded four of the top five finishers.  Alexander Poulsen captured the win going 20.27, while Arvid Farro went 20.42 to finish runner-up.  Adam Geddis tallied Third Team All-Conference honors after going 20.65.  Rounding out the top-five finishers was Brandon Holder that touched the wall in 20.84 to place fifth.

Aidan Crutchfield tallied 184.50 points to win the 3-meter diving competition.

In the final event of the day, the 400 medley relay, Satti, Leon Irmer, Ramirez Zapata, and Holder teamed up for a meet record time of 3:17.74.  That is the third fastest time in the NAIA this season.

Cumberlands returns to the water Friday, February 6^th, for day two of the Mid-South Conference Championships.  Prelims are set for 11 a.m. with finals beginning at 7 p.m.

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