MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin men's swimming and diving team open its 2023-24 season with a dual meet against Notre Dame at the Soderholm Aquatic Center at 3:30 p.m. on Friday. Meet results from the meet will be posted live through the
Meet Mobile App that can be downloaded through the App Store or Google Play. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter for all the inside scoop throughout the weekend @BadgerSwimDive.
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Here are five things to know about this weekend.Â
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1. ALL-AMERICAN RETURNEES: The Badgers finished the 2023 NCAA Championships with two individuals and two relays earning All-American honors.
Jake Newmark earned a fourth-place finish in the 500 free, setting a new school record with a time of 4:10.12.
Dominik Mark Torok earned his first career All-American honor in the 400 IM, placing 13th in 3:41.35. The Badgers also earned second-team All-America honors in the 200 medley relay and 400 medley relay.
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2. B1G SCORERS RETURN: Jake Newmark continues to make his mark in the Big Ten after earning two conference titles last season in the 200 free and 500 free. His 500-free win last season was his second consecutive win in the event.
Dominik Mark Torok also picked up his first conference win in the 400 IM in 3:39.96. Other returning scorers include
Yigit Aslan,
Andrew Benson,
Nico Butera,
Truman teDuits,
Zach Ward, and
Ben Wiegand.
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3. WELCOME TO WISCONSIN: The Badgers welcome four freshmen to the 2023-24 roster, including Luukas Vainio, who competed for Team Finland in the LEN U23 Championships in Dublin, Ireland. Badgers also added breaststroker
Brayden Henkel,
Lance Swanepoel, who competes in fly events, and
Nathan Welker who specializes in fly, back, and the individual medley. Wisconsin also welcomes transfers
Chris Morris (Minnesota) and
Janis Silins (TCU).
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4. DIVING RIGHT IN: Returning for the Badgers is senior
Daniel Muller, who placed 15th in the 1-meter at the NCAA Zone D Diving Championships last season. He also picked up another 15th-place finish in the 3-meter dive and was the only Wisconsin diver to place at Big Tens, raking in a sixth-place finish in the 3-meter board. Sophomore
Sebastian Lawrence was the only other diver to compete at the NCAA Zone D Championships, placing 17th in the 3-meter with 656.35 points.
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5. RANKED IN THE TOP 25: Wisconsin finished the 2023 season with a 23rd-place finish at the NCAA Championships with 27 points, the highest the team has finished since 2017. According to SwimSwam news, the Badgers come in at No.18 in the preseason power rankings.
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