The UW Oshkosh swimming and diving team placed fifth and broke five records in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championships Feb. 15-18.

For the women’s team on the opening day of the championship, Cadence Showalter, Francesca Schiro, Brianna Smith and Brianna Wesenberg swam the 800-yard freestyle relay with a time of 7:48.01, breaking a UW Oshkosh record.

For the men’s team, the 200-yard medley relay team composed of CJ Willert, Cade Millam, Andrew Copeland and Drew Davis, finished with a combined time of 1:39.46.

In the 800 freestyle relay, the team made up of Damen Seremet, Drew Davis, Chase Millam and Ben Knoek finished with a time of 7:15.70.

Senior Hayden Freeman said he was proud of his team’s performance, and that it’s heading in the right direction.

”I was very happy with the performance of the team this season,” he said. “It was better than last season and I think I am leaving the team in a good spot. I’m excited to see what they are able to do.”

On the second day for the women’s team, Showalter broke the school record for the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:12.40, breaking a record set in 1997.

On the men’s team for the second day, Damen Seremet made it in the top ten in the 50 yard free with a time of 21.38 and Ethan Almstadt won the 500-yard freestyle clocking in at 5:07.28.

On the third day, another record was broken by Schiro in both the prelims and finals in the 200 freestyle with times of 1:53.68 and 1:53.44, breaking a record set in 2020 and winning the event.

Showalter also broke a record that day in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 57.71, breaking a record set in 2020. 

Willert broke the school record from 2019 on the fourth day in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:58.25, securing him a top-ten spot in the event.

On the final day of the WIAC meet, Schiro broke her own prelim record in the finals clocking in at 51.31 getting runner-up and qualifying for NCAA III B 100 yard free event.

In the 400 yard freestyle Showalter, Schiro, Smith and Wessenberg broke a 25-year-old record from 1998, with a combined time of 3:36.73.

“I think I am leaving the team in good hands,” senior Chase Millam said, “There is a really big recruiting class coming in.” 

  He has high hopes for the team as the new recruiting class coming will nearly double the size of the team.

Diving into the competition representing the women is Abbi Priestley. She earned second place in the 3-meter dive with a score of 416.80 and won the 1-meter with a score of 426.85. She qualified for NCAA Zone Diving and won the WIAC Diver of the Meet.

Check the UWO athletics website to see if UW Oshkosh swimming and diving qualified for the NCAA Division III National Championships.