T&T’s Nikoli Blackman swam the third leg as the University of Tennessee swimming and diving program opened the 2024-25 regular season with the top time in the nation in the men’s 400 yards freestyle relay on the road against Louisville on Thursday afternoon at the Ralph Wright Natatorium.
Despite the dominant relay win, Blackman and the eight-ranked Vols fell to 11th-ranked Louisville University men, 178.5-121.5.
In the final event of the day, the 400-yard freestyle relay of Brazilian Gui Caribe, Bahamian Lamar Taylor, Blackman, and Jordan Crooks of Cayman Islands posted the top time in the country this season, clocking two minutes, 49.23 seconds.
This mark constitutes an NCAA ‘A’ cut time, automatically qualifying the group for the NCAA Championships at the end of the season, while Louisville University’s Guy Brooks, Murilo Sartori Matais Santiso, and Dalton Lowe combined for a ‘B’ cut time of two minutes, 51.46 seconds, followed by Tennessee’s Harrison Lierz, Bjoern Kammann, Pedro Sansone, and Micah Chambers in two minutes, 55.73.
In the 200-yard freestyle, Blackman was second to the wall in one minute, 34.81 seconds, to finish behind Louisville’s Brooks, who won in one minute 33.45 with his schoolmate Denis Loktev, third in one minute, 34.85.
The T&T swimmer had to settle for the bronze in the 100-yard freestyle in 42.97 seconds to trail his teammate Caribe, who touched the wall in 42.15 with Brooks, second in 42.89.
Overall, Tennessee swimmers set seven new top-ten times during the meet, with all of the individual top marks being done by newcomers, including Taylor.
Wilson gets silver, two relay bronzes as Alabama dominates Delta State
T&T’s Zarek Wilson also enjoyed a productive start to the season for the University of Alabama swimming and diving team as they won 30 of 31 events to claim a commanding victory over Delta State in the team’s season opener on Friday.
The quartet of Wilson, Kyle Micallef, Jarrett Payne, and Trey Shields took silver for the University of Alabama ‘D’ in the 200 yard freestyle in one minute, 21.72 seconds, behind schoolmates, the University of Alabama ‘B’ foursome of Bernardo De Almeida, Charlie Hawke, Toni Dragoja, and Leyton Roe, who clocked 1:21.21 with the University of Alabama ‘C’ taking the third spot in one minute, 22.01 seconds.
The University of Alabama ‘B’ team of Payne, Lance Johnson, Wilson, and Jake Kennedy combined for third spot in the 200-yard medley relay in one minute, 30.08 seconds behind winners’, the University of Alabama ‘D’ (1:28.78), and the University of Alabama ‘C’, who got silver in 1:29.20.
And in the men’s 100-yard butterfly, Wilson again secured third place with a time of 49.78, with teammates Bernardo De Almeida (47.91) and Kaique Alves (48.23) the top two finishers.
In Portsmouth, Ohio, national swimmer Josiah Ramdeen helped Shawnee State University to 13 wins in a tri-meet against Midway and West Virginia Tech at Warsaw Aquatic Centre.
The trio of Ramdeen, Alex Ray, and Kami Walusimbi finished first, second, and fourth in the men’s 100-yard backstroke, with Ramdeen swimming a 1:02.01 and Ray and Walusimbi each setting personal best times.
Evan Siberell, Ramdeen, and Allan Gonzalez finished second, third, and fourth in the 200-yard individual medley, with Siberell and Ramdeen setting personal best times in that event.
And in the 200-yard medley relay, the units of Tony Goodwin, Ramdeen, Ray, and Siberell of Shawnee State ‘A’, and Evan Ater, Evan Bower, Allan Gonzalez, and Luke Lunsford of Shawnee State ‘B’ went 1-2 in a tight and competitive race between both squads.
Individually, Ramdeen had eighth-place finishes in both the men’s 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard breaststroke.
Last month, Ramdeen had a third-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke (57.65) to help Shawnee State notched a total of 266.5 points on the second day of the Dr. Dillery Fall Frenzy at the Doris and Bob Holloway Health and Wellness Centre in Columbia, Ky.
With his third-place showing in the 100 yard backstroke, Ramdeen came within three-and-a-half seconds from a NAIA Provisional standard time, while in the relays, Ramdeen, along with Evan Bower, Tony Goodwin, and Evan Siberell, helped Shawnee State’s 200 medley relay unit finish fifth with a 1:42.72-timing, and he also teamed up with Ater, Goodwin, and Luke Lunsford to place seventh in the 400 yard freestyle relay (3:27.92).
