Antipov, Nikolaev rise in win at BYU

Saturday, January 12

Provo, Utah

10 a.m.

Grand Canyon

Brigham Young

Photo by: Deb Schaffer

1/12/2019 5:45:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving

Results

GCU defeats BYU 169-130 to remain undefeated in 2019

By: Nathan Okonek

PROVO, Utah — The Grand Canyon men's swimming and diving team remained undefeated in 2019 after defeating BYU 169-130 on Saturday afternoon.

"It was another very good win for the men and the first time for us to win at BYU," Lopes head coach Steve Schaffer said. "We overcame the altitude and got solid swims and contributions from everyone."

Relays remain a strong point for GCU as Mark Nikolaev, Bogdan Plavin, Daniil Antipov and Mazen Shoukri started off hot for the Lopes, winning the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1 minute, 28.78 seconds.

GCU also finished first in the 200 freestyle relay as Plavin, Samuel McKenzie, Antipov and Shoukri combined for a winning time of 1:20.87.

Nikolaev led the Lopes with three individual victories; he finished first in the 100 backstroke (46.78), first in the 200 backstroke (1:47.85) and first in the 200 individual medley (1:50.35)."

"Mark (Nikolaev) led the way for us, starting with the first event," Schaffer said. "With getting our medley relay the lead they needed to, he followed that up with a pool record winning 100 backstroke and winning the 200 backstroke and 200 individual medley.

Antipov was also a key contributor in Saturday's win. The senior won the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:46.90 and the 500 freestyle with a mark of 4:34.44.

"Daniil was also part of four wins," Schaffer said. "With him swimming well, it really helps to our teams overall success."

Alonso Carazo Barbero picked up an individual win of his own, finishing first in the 1000 freestyle with a time of 9:54.76 while also finishing second in the 500 freestyle in 4:46.50.

McKenzie earned a first-place finish in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:40.89. McKenzie also finished second in the 100 freestyle (45.53).

Florent Janin, Eran Ber and Shoukri all earned second-place finishes as Janin finished second in the 200 freestyle (1:43.92), Ber in the 200 backstroke (1:53.45) and Shoukri in the 100 butterfly (50.32).

"Our young guys continue to impress every week," Schaffer said. "They give us the depth to be really good and it'll show come WAC Championships."

Asahi Nagahata finished with a pair of third-place finishes in the 100 breaststroke (57.12) and the 200 breaststroke (2:08.00).

Eli Knobloch and Wiktor Jaszczak also earned third-place honors. Knobloch finished third in the 100 butterfly (52.63) while Jaszczak finished third in the 1000 freestyle (10:08.03).

Pietro Hufnagel Toscani swept the diving events, winning the 1-meter dive (302.05) and the 3-meter dive (340.95). Nick Benson also had a great day, finishing second in the 1-meter dive (296.55) and 3-meter dive (289.40).

The Lopes are back in action on Jan. 26 when they head to Moscow, Idaho, to face Idaho and Simon Fraser.

"We are looking forward to a week off from meets," Schaffer said. "It'll give us to time to improve and get some needed training in as we continue to prepare for the WAC Championships and our post-season meets."

For more on GCU swimming and diving, follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @GCU_Swimming.