Saint John's swimming and diving hosts St. Olaf for a 1 p.m. dual meet this Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Warner Palaestra Pool in Collegeville. – Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's won 10 of the 13 events in a 151.5-89.5 victory at Macalester on Saturday (Oct. 26) in St. Paul. SJU recorded 24 top-three performances on the day as three Johnnies won two events each.

The visitors swept the top-three times in the 1,000-yard freestyle, led by junior Brayden Slavik (Green Isle, Minn./Chaska) – the reigning MIAC Men's Swimming Athlete of the Week – with one of his two first-place times on the afternoon. He also tied with the Scots' Kean Pajarillaga for the title in the 100-yard backstroke (53.81). 

Senior Carter Larson (Sartell, Minn./Sartell-St. Stephen) took first in the 200- (1:45.78) and 500-yard (4:58.44) freestyles, and senior Eli Grabinski (Sauk Rapids, Minn./Sauk Rapids-Rice) – the reigning MIAC Men's Diver of the Week – won both the 1- (287.70) and 3-meter (305.50) events.

Seniors Colby Kern (Delano, Minn.) and Langston Philion (Maple Grove, Minn.) won the 100-yard freestyle (48.66) and 100-yard butterfly (53.66), respectively, and junior Carsten Reuter (St. Cloud, Minn./Tech) led the way in the 50-yard freestyle (22.06).

SJU's 200-yard freestyle relay (Kern, Liam Noble, Jackson Hovda, Larson) placed first, while the 200-yard medley relay (Slavik, Megaw, Philion, Reuter) took second (1:39.97).

DIVER OF THE WEEK…AGAIN: Grabinski was named the MIAC Men's Diver of the Week for the second-straight week and eighth time of his career on Tuesday (Oct. 29) for his pair of wins last weekend at Macalester. A three-time MIAC Men's Diver of the Year and four-time MIAC champion, Grabinski qualified for the NCAA Regionals in the 1-meter dive in Oct. 18's season-opening win over Minnesota-Morris and achieved the feat on the 3-meter board at Macalester. The NCAA appearance will be Grabinski's fourth later this winter.

A LOOK AT THE OLES: St. Olaf took first place in nine events last Saturday (Oct. 26) at Carleton's Cows, Colleges, and Contentment Classic in Northfield. Junior Nick Starcevich took first in each of his four events: 50- (21.96) and 100-yard (48.97) freestyles and as a member of the 200-yard freestyle (1:38.42) and 200-yard medley (1:38.42) relays. Junior Aiden Yung touched the wall first in both the 200-yard breaststroke (2:15.17) and 400-yard individual medley (4:25.29). Fifth-year senior Marcus Hauck claimed first in the 100-yard backstroke (54.50), sophomore Jack Homme was first in the 100-yard butterfly (54.05) and freshman Travis Elling won the 200-yard freestyle (1:48.53).

LAST SEASON'S DUAL: The Johnnies won 10 events in a 160-83 dual victory over St. Olaf last Nov. 4 (2023) in Northfield. The visitors totaled 24 top-three finishes on the afternoon.

Two Johnnies - Larson and Slavik - won two events on the day. Larson took first in the 100- (47.99) and 200-yard (1:48.63) freestyles, while Slavik touched the wall first in the 100-yard backstroke (54.11) and 1,000-yard freestyle (10:06.62).

The Johnnies swept the top-three times in the 100 Free as Kern took second in 49.88. Philion placed first in the 100-yard butterfly (54.31), while Megaw and sophomore Simon Nyangamoi (Harrisburg, S.D.) went 1 (1:00.02)-2 (1:03.12) in the 100-yard breaststroke.

Senior Connor Thayer (Prior Lake, Minn.) took first in the 500-yard freestyle (5:08.30) and second, behind Slavik, in the 1,000 Free (10:43.61).

Grabinski made his 2023-24 debut and won the 1-meter dive with a score of 270.07, and took second on the 1-meter board (162.00). Sophomore Cody Watts (St. Cloud, Minn./Tech) took third in both the 1- (148.88) and 3-meter (241.12) dives.

SJU's 200-yard freestyle relay (Larson, Reuter, Thayer, Nyangamoi) won the race by over two seconds in 1:29.27, while the 200-yard medley (Slavik, Megaw, Philion, Kern) finished second, 0:00.12 behind the Oles in 1:38.72.

IN THE MIAC: SJU currently boasts 44 top-10 times in the MIAC so far this season, including 24 in the top five.

50-Yard Freestyle
1. Carsten Reuter, 21.92
4. Liam Noble, 22.21
6. Colby Kern, 22.34
10. Jackson Hovda, 22.91

100-Yard Freestyle
1. Carter Larson, 48.25
2. Colby Kern, 48.66
5. Carsten Reuter, 49.37
10. Jackson Hovda, 50.86

200-Yard Freestyle
1. Carter Larson, 1:45.78
2. Colby Kern, 1:48.31
10. Connor Thayer, 1:54.53

500-Yard Freestyle
2. Carter Larson, 4:58.44
6. Connor Thayer, 5:13.97
8. Jack West, 5:27.00

1,000-Yard Freestyle
1. Brayden Slavik, 10:12.47
2. Connor Thayer, 10:55.87
5. Jack West, 11:08.34

50-Yard Backstroke
3. Liam Noble, 25.97
4. Simon Nyangamoi, 27.33
9. Jackson Hovda, 28.59

100-Yard Backstroke
2. Brayden Slavik, 53.81
6. Simon Nyangamoi, 59.27
8. Nate Krotzer, 1:00.12

200-Yard Backstroke
1. Brayden Slavik, 1:57.19
5. Simon Nyangamoi, 2:13.59
6. Riley Yerks, 2:13.76

100-Yard Breaststroke
7. Jason Jones, 1:03.28
8. Clay Megaw, 1:03.31

200-Yard Breaststroke
4. Clay Megaw, 2:22.14
6. Jason Jones, 2:24.68
9. Brennan Close, 2:33.94
10. Hayden Snyder, 2:37.55

100-Yard Butterfly
1. Langston Philion, 53.66
5. Liam Noble, 54.79

200-Yard Butterfly
3. Langston Philion, 2:06.48
7. Jake Tschida, 2:26.22
9. Max Arntson, 2:42.13

200-Yard Individual Medley
3. Langston Philion, 2:08.36
4. Simon Nyangamoi, 2:09.75
5. Jason Jones, 2:12.78
6. Riley Yerks, 2:12.88
9. Ben Edwards, 2:19.68

400-Yard Individual Medley
4. Langston Philion, 4:41.75
8. Simon Nyangamoi, 4:48.91