Badger swimmers earn four top-10 times in Texas

Taiko Torepe-Ormsby leaps off the starting block.

Photo by: Taylor Wolfram

Badger swimmers earn four top-10 times in Texas

November 16, 2023 | Men's Swimming & Diving

Wisconsin also earns four NCAA qualifying times

By: Diane Nordstrom

AUSTIN, Texas -- The 20th-ranked Wisconsin men's swimming team picked up four top-10 times and earned four NCAA qualifying marks on the first days of the Texas Invitational on Wednesday and Thursday.

Relays earn top times

The Badgers kicked off the invitational on Wednesday, recording two top-10 times in relays.

Wisconsin kicked off the meet with a fifth-place finish in the 200 medley relay. The team of Jake Newmark, Matthew Segal, Andrew Benson and Ben Wiegand touched in 1 minutes, 26.09 seconds, which ranks sixth all time at UW.

The top times continued on Wednesday as the squad of Newmark, Chris Morris, Luukas Vainio and Dominik Mark Torok placed fifth in the 800 free relay. Their time of 6:22.86 ties for nine at UW.

The Badgers wrapped up Thursday's competition with another fifth-place finish, this time in the 400 medley relay. Segal, Torok, Benson and Nathan Welker combined for the eighth-fastest time at Wisconsin in 3:09.74.

NCAA qualifying times

Wisconsin also picked up four NCAA B qualifying times.

The Badgers' best finish of the day came in the 50 freestyle where Taiko Torepe-Ormsby finished as the runner-up in 19.36. His time was a personal best, NCAA B cut and ranks him third at Wisconsin. Andrew Benson also earned an NCAA B qualifying mark, taking ninth in the 50 free in a season-best time of 19.58. Ben Wiegand finished eighth in the free in a season's best time of 19.84.

Junior Yigit Aslan placed sixth in the 500 freestyle in 4:19.84, an NCAA B cut. Sophomore Zach Ward placed seventh in 42:2.73 and freshman Luukas Vainio took eighth in 4:23.17.

Torok also earned an NCAA B qualifying time in the 200 individual medley in 1:45.30. His time was a season best, just missing his personal best by .08 seconds. Juniors Chris Morris and Matthew Segal also touched in personal best times, finishing 11th and 18th, respectively. Morris touched in 1:46.27 while Segal finished in 1:48.11.

Divers compete in Georgia

While the Badger swimmers were competing in Texas, the UW divers were competing at the Georgia Invitational in Athens, Georgia. Senior Daniel Muller led UW with a third-place finish in the consolation final of the 3-meter board with 334.30 points.

Up Next

The Badgers continue competition in both the Texas Invitational and Georgia Invitational on Friday and Saturday. Preliminaries begin at 10 a.m. in Texas with finals at 6 p.m. In Georgia, finals starts at 5:30 p.m. CT.

200 Medley Relay
5. Wisconsin A (Newmark, Segal, Benson, Wiegand) - 1:26.09
12. Wisconsin B (Welker, Henkel, Bock, Casey-Hrenak) - 1:28.24
14. Wisconsin C (DiMartile, teDuits, Jones, Swanepoel) - 1:29.51

800 Free Relay
5. Wisconsin A (Newmark, Morris, Vainio, Torok) 6:22.86
7. Wisconsin B (Aslan, Ward, Jones, Butera) - 6:26.57

500 Free
6. Yigit Aslan - 4:19.84 B
7. Zach Ward - 4:22.73
8. Luukas Vainio - 4:23.17
21. Charlie Jones - 4:25.69
22. Jude Williams - 4:26.16

200 IM
7. Dominik Mark Torok - 1:45.30 B
11. Chris Morris - 1:46.27
18. Matthew Segal - 1:48.11
22. Jake DiMartile - 1:49.41

50 Free
2. Taiko Torepe-Ormsby - 19.36 B
8. Ben Wiegand - 19.84
9. Andrew Benson - 19.58 B

400 Medley Relay
5. Wisconsin A (Welker, Segal, Torok, Benson) - 3:09.74
7. Wisconsin B (DiMartile, Wiegand, Jones, Vainio) - 3:13.51
11. Wisconsin C (Long, Henkel, Bock, Casey-Hrenak) - 3:16.80

3-Meter Diving - Consolation Final
3. Daniel Muller - 334.30