CARBONDALE, Ill.—University of Evansville sophomore Alon Baer (Gesher Haziv, Israel) made history on Friday, as he not only broke UE’s school record in the 100-yard Breaststroke event, but he also achieved an NCAA ‘B Cut’ in the event at the 2022 Mid-American Conference Championships in Carbondale, Illinois.
Baer finished second in the event – one of two second-place finishes on the night for the Purple Aces – with a school-record time of 54.11. He had previously lowered the school record by 1.49 seconds in the 100 Breaststroke in the preliminary round early in the day. The time of 54.11 was faster than the NCAA’s “B Cut” time of 54.27 for the NCAA Championships. Baer is believed to be the first male swimmer in UE’s Division I history to achieve an NCAA Championship standard time.
“What an incredible night!” said UE head swimming coach Stuart Wilson. “Two all-conference swims by Alon and Daniel, three team records, the first-time ever to have a male swimmer get an NCAA ‘B Cut’ in program history, and the relay swim to finish off the night…I couldn’t be prouder!
“Let’s keep it going tomorrow!”
Baer was not the only Purple Ace who broke a record and earned a podium finish on Friday night, as freshman Daniel Santos Lopez (Madrid, Spain) finished second in the 100-yard Butterfly with a school-record time of 48.29. For Santos Lopez, it marked the third consecutive day in which he has either tied or broken a school record at the MAC Championships, as he helped lower the school record in the 200-yard Medley Relay on Thursday (alongside Baer), while tying the school mark in the 50-yard Freestyle on Thursday.
The duo also teamed with junior Riccardo Di Domenico (Johannesburg, South Africa) and freshman Patrik Vilbergsson (Kopavogur, Iceland) at the end of the meet to smash the school record in the 400-yard Medley Relay by over four seconds. Evansville was edged out for third place by just 0.03 seconds, but still posted a time of 3:15.19 to break the previous school mark of 3:19.96.
Di Domenico also joined Santos Lopez in the scoring in the ‘A Final’ of the 100-yard Butterfly, as he placed sixth in the conference with a time of 48.63. Meanwhile, freshman Carlos Souto Vilas (A Coruna, Spain) placed seventh overall in the MAC in the 100-yard Breaststroke with a time of 55.30.
The MAC Championships will conclude on Saturday, with both preliminary and finals swims in the 100-yard Freestyle, 200-yard Backstroke, Breaststroke and Butterfly, the 1,650-yard Freestyle, and the 400-yard Freestyle Relay. Preliminary round swims will begin at 10:30 a.m., with the finals beginning at 6:30 p.m.
