GCU tallies 7 medals in day 2, moves into 1st place

Wednesday, February 11

Houston, Texas

Grand Canyon

Big West Championships

carter and jasu celebrating after iM final

Photo by: Nathan Peters

2/12/2026 10:20:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving

Season-best relay ranks second all-time

By: Nathan Peters

HOUSTON – Grand Canyon delivered multiple podium finishes, season bests and personal records during Thursday night's finals session at the 2026 Big West Conference Championships.

In the 500-yard freestyle final, Jacob Pins placed second with a season-best 4:21.08 to score 17 team points.

Batu Servi also finished with a personal-best 4:26.56 to land ninth overall, while Colin Campbell recorded a personal-best 4:32.98, improving by .01 seconds, to place 13th.

In the 200-yard IM, Jasu Ovaskainen delivered a season-best 1:46.69 to finish second. Carter Dooling added a third-place finish in a personal-best 1:47.75, and Tim Koza contributed with a 15th-place effort in 1:50.54.

GCU's sprint group produced three top-five finishes in the 50-yard freestyle. Alex Volkov took second in a personal-best 19.44. Guillermo Carrey placed third in 19.58. Mario Perez finished fifth in 19.63, and Eli Cohen posted a season-best 20.22 to finish 16th.

On the diving boards, Omar Elsayed earned a runner-up finish in the 3-meter competition, while Bryce Porter added a fifth-place finish to give the Lopes two top-five performances in the event. Luke Struiksma and Braeden Rasmus also placed 7th and 8th.

The Lopes closed the night with a season-best performance in the 200-yard freestyle relay, as the quartet of Perez, Volkov, Cohen and Carrey combined for a 1:17.54. The time improved on the relay's previous season best of 1:18.08, ranks as the second-fastest in program history and secured a silver medal finish.

Through Thursday's events, GCU leads the team standings with 319 points, followed by Hawaii with 302 points and UC San Diego with 207 points. The Lopes compiled seven top-three finishes and multiple season-best and personal-best performances, positioning themselves well heading into day three of the competition on Friday.

Day 1
Grand Canyon opened the Big West Men's Swimming and Diving Championships with a strong first day of finals Wednesday, positioning itself within striking distance of the lead while producing lifetime-best performances, top-10 program marks and nationally qualifying swims.

In the 200-yard medley relay, GCU earned second place to Hawai'i in 1 minute, 25.16 seconds.

The Lopes' relay of Alex Volkov, Carter Dooling, Mario Perez and Guillermo Carrey delivered several standout splits, particularly on the back half of the race.

Perez recorded a 20.71 split on the butterfly leg, a lifetime best by .27 seconds to move him to third in program history for that split. Carrey anchored in 19.06, just .17 off his lifetime best, to provide a strong close that secured runner-up honors against a deep conference field.

On the 1-meter diving board, GCU qualified four divers into the A final.

Omar Elsayed led the Lopes with a second-place finish (358.65 points), narrowly missing the event title.

Luke Struiksma placed fifth (263.40), while Bryce Porter (224.10) and Braeden Rasmus (217.45) added additional team points in seventh and eighth, respectively.

In the 800 freestyle relay, GCU's quartet of Asher Havenhill, Jacob Pins, Jasu Ovaskainen and Eli Cohen finished fourth in 6:30.33.

Although the relay did not crack the program's top 10, several individual performances stood out. Havenhill's split was just .13 off his lifetime best, and Pins swam faster than his previous lifetime best flat-start time (1:37.32) despite not having an official relay split available. Ovaskainen recorded a lifetime-best split of 1:36.31, improving from 1:37.14, while Cohen posted a season-best 1:37.28, nearly 1.8 seconds faster than his previous mark.

GCU also used Wednesday's time trials to produce a series of notable performances.

Lopes junior Joe Stevenson recorded a 55.40 in the 100 breaststroke, achieving a NICB qualifying standard and improving his lifetime best by roughly three seconds.

GCU's Ian Herota narrowly missed breaking the 55-second barrier but still achieved a lifetime best.

Adrian delivered a season-best 50.46 in the 100 freestyle, just .13 off his career mark.

Volkov swam 46.18 in the 100 butterfly, featuring a 20.97 opening 50 that set a team record for that split and left him only .07 off the incidental NCAA cut of 46.11.

Colin Campbell posted a lifetime best in the 100 individual medley, while Alex Edquid swam 50.88, another lifetime best and NICB qualifier.

In sprint time trials, Daniel Volkov recorded a season best in the 50 backstroke, while Perez (21.22) and Carrey (21.41) posted strong 50 freestyle swims that met NICB qualifying standards, despite narrowly missing their lifetime bests.

Through five scored events, GCU closed Wednesday in second place in the men's team standings with 118 points, trailing Hawai'i (125) but holding a clear edge over the rest of the field.

With relay depth, diving strength and breakout swims, the Lopes are positioned well heading into Thursday's preliminaries and finals at the CRWC Natatorium in Houston.