A new swimming & diving season kicked off last weekend at the SMU Classic with a limited roster — just eight swimmers each on the men’s and women’s side, along with a diver — so it was great to see a full squad competing at the team’s home opener, which took place on Friday and Saturday at Mizzou Aquatics Center, and featured Missouri State men and women, as well as Indiana State’s women’s team.
“I am thrilled with the athlete’s attitudes, the way they support each other, and for them to dig deep
and give that incredible effort,” Mizzou Head Coach Andrew Grevers said in the MUTigers.com recap. “There’s plenty of room for growth, but the controllables were quite impressive this week.”
The women’s team beat the Sycamores 259-94 and Bears 270-83, while the men beat Missouri State 249-104.
Freshman Phenoms
There were some impressive performances by Tiger freshmen at the tri-meet, including:
- Brazilian freshman Bruno Primerano brought home his first win as a Tiger in the 1000 free, and his 9:13.07 was the sixth-fastest time in school history. WOW! He also took third in the 200 free.
- Amelia Lee won the 100 back in 52.96 and took second in the 200 in 1:57.62.
- Tori Yamamura won the 200 fly in 2:00.41 and the 100 fly in 53.48, just in front of senior teammate Kylee Sullivan in 54.06.
- Lexi Cook won the 200 back in 1:55.10, finished second in the 1000 free (9:59.27) and took third in the 100 back in 55.64. What a debut for the St. Louis native!
- Nell Cagle won the 100 breast in 1:01.79, and fellow freshman Natalie Zapotocka took second in 1:02.08. Zapotocka also won the 2oo in 2:13.99. With multiple Tiger breaststroker holes to fill— Zara Zallen transferred to Alabama (sad face) and Paige Striley graduated — help was needed!
Event Sweeps
It won’t be expected to happen often with a tough SEC schedule, so we take the sweeps when we can get them, right? Here’s a roundup:
- 200 Fly: Tori Yamamura (2:00.41), Maeve DeYoung (2:01.14) and Kylee Sullivan (2:01.77) took the top three spots in one of my least favorite races to swim.
- 100 Back: Freshman Amelia Lee, sophomore Libby Baker (54.51), and freshman Lexi Cook executed a 1-2-3 underclassmen sweep on the women’s side, while Quinlan Gould, Joe Warnagiris, and Francois Malherbe took the top spots on the men’s side.
- 50 Free: Nebrich (19.35), Ethan Vance (20.03), Everett (20.32) and Millan (20.64) took first through fourth in the 50.
- 100 Free: Luke Nebrich (42.46), Francois Malherbe (43.97), Ian Everett (44.00, lifetime best) and Oliver Millan de Miguel (44.26) took first through fourth in the 100 free.
- 200 IM: Matthew Judkins (1:47.31, lifetime best), Joe Warnagiris (1:48.05) and Matthew Mortenson (1:48.33) swept 1-2-3 in the 200 IM.
- Relays: The Tigers took the top two spots in both the men’s and women’s 400 medley relay (the men’s B team actually tied for second with MO State, weirdly enough), and the women swept the 200 medley, going first through third. The men’s 200 free relay teams also took the top two slots.
Other Results
- Men’s Butterfly: Matthew Judkins won the 200 fly in a lifetime-best 1:42.64, and teammates Griffin Craig (1:48.50) and Drew Ploof (1:48.80) took third and fourth. Judkins also won the 100 fly (46.99) in a lifetime best time, while Craig took third in 48.02 and Jaden Pospishil took fourth in 48.35.
- 200 Back: Quinlan Gould won the 200 back in 1:43.75. Freshman Joe Warnagiris took third (1:47.09)
- Men’s Breaststroke: The trio of Logan Ottke (52.99), Darden Tate (55.06) and freshman William Currey (56.64) took second through fourth in the 100 breast. Matthew Mortenson (1:58.22) and Ottke (1:58.54) took the top two spots.
- Women’s Sprint Free: Katie Kuehn won the 100 in a lifetime best time (per my records) of 49.84, while teammates Francesca Smith (50.16) and Libby Bakker (50.35, lifetime best) took third and fourth. Kuehn also won the 50 in 22.79, while Smith (22.86) took second, Zuza Kasnicki (23.27) took third and Haiden Schoessel took fifth (23.40).
- 200 Free: Piper McNeil won the 200 free in 1:48.65 on the women’s side, while Oliver Millan de Miguel (1:37.81) and Bruno Primerano (1:38.06) took second and third on the men’s side.
- 500 Free: Peyton Drexler (4:48.56), Lexi Cook (4:49.70, season best), Piper McNeil (4:50.01, lifetime best), and Zoe Schneider (4:51.80) took second through fifth places in the 500 free. On the men’s side, Matthew Mortenson took second in 4:24.99.
- IMers: The 200 IM squad of Piper McNeil (2:01.43), Natalie Zaptocka (2:01.49) and Amelia Lee (2:01.93) took second through fourth place. McNeil (4:18.71) won the women’s 400 IM, while Mortenson won the men’s event in 3:50.92. Teammate Sebastian Gonzalez-Barboza took second in 3:53.29, which per my records was a lifetime best.
- Free Relays: The women’s team of Katie Kuehn, Francesca Smith, Zuza Krasnicki and Haiden Schoessel took the title in the 200, while the women’s 400 free relay team of Kuehn, Smith, Krasnicki and Bakker took top billing. The men’s A team (Nebrich, Everett, Vance, Malherbe) and B team (Millan, Pospishil, Primerano, Ploof) took first and second.
- Medley Relays: The men’s team of Quinlan Gould, Logan Ottke, Luke Nebrich and Francois Malherbe took the title in the 200.
A ‘Well’ of Change
The retirement of head diving coach Kyle Bogner, along with the graduation of NCAA champ Collier Dyer and NCAA qualifier Gabriela Carmona and the notable transfers of Jazzelle Eikermann Gregorchuk (Illinois) and Mia Henninger (Michigan), has left the Tiger diving program with a lot of new faces in the diving well for the 2026-27 season.
Enter Kentucky transfer Miles Buchart, who joins the men’s program alongside Tanner Braunton, Tommaso Zannella and the Colbert twins (Derek & Deacon), and freshmen Clara Liaw Yanwen and Madi Vermillion, who join returner Megan Jolly on the women’s side.
While Deacon Colbert was not in action at the tri-dual, the other divers were, with Jolly earning two first place finishes in the 1-and 3-meter events. Her 1-meter score of 310.80 now puts her sixth all-time. Vermillion was third in the 3-meter with a 225.90.
Zannella won the 3-meter in 360.30 and was part of a Tiger sweep, with Braunton finishing second (360.15) and Buchart finishing third (304.15). Zannella also finished second in the 1-meter, behind the winner, Braunton (354.10).
Denny Boyd Pool
On October 16, the athletic department announced a historic gift from alumni Denny Boyd and his wife Carla for improvements in the already top-notch competition pool and aquatic area at Mizzou Rec.
Boyd, a 1972-76 member of the Tiger program, held multiple school records during his time as a Tiger, including both backstrokes and the 200 IM, and on November 6, the pool will be renamed the Denny Boyd Pool.
Boyd said in the release that some of his fondest memories were made in and around that pool, but the Mizzou Aquatic Center pool didn’t open its doors until 2005, and the natatorium he actually competed in was demolished and replaced by the new rec. The former natatorium site is now Stankowski Field. (You’re welcome, Mizzou, my athletic fees while in college helped pay for the new rec.)
Next up for the Tigers is a Halloween dual meet at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale (I’ve swam there!). Timing is tbd, as Mizzou’s site says start time is noon, but SIU’s schedule says 9:30am. It will be a spooky surprise, I guess!
