Purdue Men, Virginia Women Win College Club Titles; Thomas Askew Breaks Another Record

2024 COLLEGE CLUB SWIMMING NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

• April 5-7, 2024
• IU Natatorium, Indianapolis, Indiana
• Short Course Yards (25 yards), Prelims/Finals
• Meet Central (including LiveStream link)
• Qualifying Times
• Meet Program/Heat Sheets
• 2023 Results
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Day 1 Recap | Day 2 Recap
• Final Team Scores

Both the Virginia women and the Purdue men repeated as team champions on the final day of the College Club Swimming Championships on Sunday in Indianapolis. While both teams had big gender-imbalances in scoring, they both had enough margin in their respective fields to wind up as the top two teams in combined scoring as well, with Purdue ultimately placing 1st.

Purdue won the men’s title for the third-straight year and the combined title for the second-straight year. Virginia has finished as the runner-up for three straight seasons.

The 2024 CCS Champion Virginia women

Team Scoring

Top 5 Women’s Teams:

1. Virginia – 836.5
2. Michigan – 587
3. Cal Poly – 393
4. Cal – 368
5. Ohio State – 367.5

Top 5 Men’s Teams:

1. Purdue – 1,060.5
2. Liberty – 810
3. Georgia Tech – 744.5
4. Cal – 635
5. Georgia – 412

Top 5 Combined Teams:

1. Purdue – 1,336.5
2. Virginia – 1,102.5
3. Cal – 1,041
4. Georgia Tech – 940.5
5. Liberty – 810

The final day of racing saw more of the same as the first two, with several repeat winners appearing on the podiums – though there were some newcomers as well.

Two swimmers picked up a pair of individual wins on Sunday. On the women’s side, it was Michigan’s Katii Tang, who won the 100 fly in 56.36 and the 100 free in 51.89. The Hong Kong international and former Michigan varsity swimmer scored a handful of points at the Big Ten Championships throughout her career and is now shining at the club level while working on a Masters of Management in Ann Arbor.

Tang also picked up two individual wins on Saturday, taking the 50 free (23.87) and 200 free (1:52.96).

On the men’s side, another former NCAA swimmer Bebe Wang also picked up a pair of wins for the Purdue Boilermakers. Wang, who was an NCAA D3 Champion at Denison as a middle distance swimmer, transformed into a sprinter this week for the Purdue club team. On Sunday, he won the 50 back in 22.87 and the 100 free in 44.74, adding to a win in the 50 free (20.24) from Saturday.

On the final day of racing, he also split 20.78 on the leadoff of Purdue’s 3rd-place mixed 200 free relay and 20.49 on the leadoff of Purdue’s winning men’s 200 free relay. That relay also included Tyson Tucci (20.49), Kellen Reese (20.35), and Fenry Zhou (20.63).

The Purdue men won three of the five relays on the weekend, with Georgia Tech taking the other two.

The big story of the night on the men’s side besides the team battle was Georgia’s Thomas Askew finishing the meet a perfect 4-for-4 in individual events. He won the 100 fly in 46.82 to complete a sweep of the butterfly events and a sweep of the butterfly event CSS Records.

The former record in the 100 fly was set by Purdue’s Kellen Reese last year in 47.13; Reese was 2nd this year in 47.24. Askew was the only individual record-breaker on Sunday.

Askew also won the 200 fly (1:48.26), 50 fly (21.14), and 100 back (49.49), and all of his times are lifetime bests, clearing his swims from high school.

Reese grabbed his first win of the meet later in the session, clearing the field in the 100 IM (50.38). He was one of a couple of members of that winning Purdue relay to also grab individual wins on the final day of competition. Fenry Zhou won the 50 breaststroke in 25.38 ahead of Liberty’s Dillon Delaney (25.60).

Other Day 3 Winners & Highlights

• Ohio State’s Cate O’Haimhirgin won the 50 breaststroke in 29.36, completing a sweep of the sprint events after winning the 100 in 1:05.22 on Saturday.
• The Virginia women won their 3rd relay of the meet with a 1:37.75 in the 200 free relay.
• Coastal Carolina’s Deanna Caceres, a former member of the rowing team at Clemson, won the 50 back in 26.61 – her only event final of the meet. She beat out Erin Swift (26.82) who won the 100 back on Saturday.
• Wisconsin’s Mallory Jackson gave the Badgers their lone win of the meet in her only individual swim, the 100 IM. She took the victory in 59.77.
• A surprise victory came in the meet’s final relay, where the UNCW mixed 200 free relay upset some of the bigger club programs with a 1:29.78. That relay included Briggs Cloutier (21.19), Ben Prucha (20.07), Jordan Lamoreux (24.63), and Morgan Kondratick (23.89).