By: Erin Madden
BEREA, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University men's swimming and diving team splashed into Ohio Athletic Conference action with a win over Wilmington College in the first dual meet of the season inside the BW Natatorium.
BW (1-0, 1-0 OAC) defeated Wilmington by a score of 120-84.
Freshmen freestyler Austin Olsavsky (Medina) and stroker Immanuel Ayangoke (Jacksonville, Fla./Bolles Academy) impressed in their first collegiate dual meet, picking up a total of three individual event wins. Olsavsky swept the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyle events in times of 1:52.96 and 5:17.23 while Ayangoke won the 50-yard freestyle in 23.55 seconds.
Also notching a pair of wins was sophomore All-OAC stroker Michael Lewis (Lancaster) in the 100-yard individual medley and the 100-yard breaststroke in a career-best 54.41 seconds and 59.55 seconds, respectively. Other event wins came from senior All-OAC stroker Greg Shaw and junior Academic All-OAC freestyler Matthew Butt (Westfield Center/Cloverleaf). Shaw took the 100-yard butterfly event in 54.47 seconds while Butt out-swam the competition in the 100-yard freestyle in 50.52 seconds.
Freshman diver Zachary Pierce (Spring, Texas/Klein Collins) totaled 193.50 points while senior All-OAC diver Evan Rinaldi (Cleveland/Cleveland Heights) marked 150.90 points as the only two competitors in the 1-meter, six-dive event.
In relay action, junior stroker Michael Morsch (Phoenix, Ariz./Norte Dame Preparatory), Lewis, Shaw and Butt combined for a win in the 200-yard medley relay in 1:40.77. A group of freshmen in Olsavsky, stroker Alex McNeill (Avon Lake), freestyler Austin Wharton (New Albany/Lincoln) and Ayangoke nabbed the victory in the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:36.48
BW returns to action on for a two-day meet on Friday and Sunday, October 25-26, when the Yellow Jackets host non-conference opponents Bethany (W.Va.) College and Manchester (Ind.) University. Friday's action begins at 6 p.m. inside the BW Natatorium.
