Dooling clinches NCAAs bid; GCU takes 2nd at Big West

Wednesday, February 11

Houston, Texas

Grand Canyon

Big West Championships

dooling receiving auto bid to ncaa championships

Photo by: Nathan Peters

2/14/2026 10:26:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving

Senior uses final BW session to earn Lopes' 1st NCAA appearance since 2019

By: Nathan Peters

HOUSTON – Grand Canyon closed the Big West Championships with senior Carter Doolling's NCAA Championships berth headlining two historic performances and the men's runner-up finish Saturday.

Hawai'i claimed the men's team title with 780 points to hold off GCU (728) and UC San Diego (571).

The milestone moment of the night came in the men's 200-yard breaststroke, where Dooling captured the Big West championship in 1 minute, 54.56 seconds. The swim marked a lifetime best for Dooling and earned an NCAA automatic qualifying bid, a new rule to the sport that GCU head coach Steve Schaffer was instrumental in adding.

Dooling sends Grand Canyon to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2019, when GCU's NCAA team of Daniil Antipov, Florent Janin, Asahi Nagahata, Mark Nikolaev and Bogdan Plavin finished the meet with 16 points in Austin, Texas.

The Lopes claimed another conference title in the second-to-last event of the meet with a dramatic finish in platform diving. GCU sophomore Omar Elsayed secured the Big West championship with a score of 395.75 points, sealing the title on his last dive and setting a conference championship-record score.

Distance swimming opened the evening with the men's 1,650 freestyle, led by sophomore Jacob Pins, who claimed first with a time of 15:17.54. Pins' performance set a GCU record in the mile after joining the program at the semester break.

Lopes junior Colin Campbell placed 10th in 15:50.01 with a season-best performance, while sophomore Batu Servi finished 12th in 15:57.30, and Adrian Zolnierczyk recorded a lifetime best for 15th in 16:32.34.

GCU added depth scoring in the 200 backstroke from the consolation final. Senior Mohamed Mohamady posted a season best of 1:46.13 to finish 10th. Asher Havenhill, a Lopes junior, followed with a season-best time of 1:46.44 to place 11th, while senior Daniel Volkov also recorded a season best in 1:48.91 for 13th. GCU freshman Adrian Zolnierczyk added a second swim on the night with a 16th-place finish in 1:51.68.

Sprint action continued in the 100 freestyle. GCU junior Guillermo Carrey delivered a lifetime-best performance to earn a third-place finish in 42.80. Lopes senior Alex Volkov followed with a fourth-place finish in 43.33, while senior Eli Cohen added points from the consolation final with a 12th-place swim in 44.36.

The Lopes returned to the podium in the 200 butterfly, as senior Mario Perez produced a lifetime best to claim a runner-up finish in 1:45.17. GCU junior Jasu Ovaskainen followed with a season-best time of 1:46.91 to place sixth.

GCU scored deeper in platform diving beyond Elsayed's title with juniors Bryce Porter (288.05) and Luke Struiksma (262.20) finishing fourth and fifth, with freshman Braeden Rasmus taking eighth with 202.85 points for GCU's fourth scoring platform diver.

The championships concluded with the 400 freestyle relay. Grand Canyon's A relay of Alex Volkov, Perez, Cohen and Carrey finished second in 2:52.48, the second-best performance in program history.

The Lopes will look ahead to Zone E Diving Championships in Flagstaff, Arizona, as well as CSCAA National Invational Championships in Ocala, Florida. Dooling will compete at NCAA Championships in Atlanta in late March.

Day 3 recap

Grand Canyon closed Friday night of the Big West Championships with a series of high-impact finals performances, positioning the Lopes in striking range of Hawai'i in the team title race after 29 events.

Through Friday's competition, GCU sits in second place in the men's team standings with 487 points, trailing Hawai'i by 25 and holding a 106-point advantage over third-place UC Santa Barbara.

The night opened with the men's 100-yard butterfly, where Lopes junior Jasu Ovaskainen delivered a lifetime-best performance to place third in the championship final with a time of 46.59 seconds, scoring 16 points for GCU. Senior teammate Eli Cohen scored in the consolation final with a season-best swim of 48.02, finishing 13th for four points.

The Lopes continued to score in the 400-yard individual medley with three swimmers in the consolation final. GCU senior Tim Koza led the group with a lifetime-best time of 3 minutes and 54.92 seconds, improving on his previous best of 3:57.06 to place 10th. Junior teammate Joe Stephenson followed in 12th place with a season-best 3:57.14 while another GCU junior, Colin Campbell, took 16th (4:00.34) to combine for 13 points in the event.

In the 200-yard freestyle, senior Mario Perez produced one of the Lopes' top individual swims of the night, earning silver with a lifetime-best time of 1:35.61 to score 17 points. GCU sophomore Batu Servi also recorded a lifetime best, placing 12th with a 1:38.69, while sophomore Trypp Duarte finished 15th (1:39.32) to contribute scoring depth.

Carter Dooling, a senior, captured Grand Canyon's first individual title of the meet in the 100-yard breaststroke, winning the event with a lifetime-best time of 52.69. The performance marked a significant improvement from his previous best of 53.66 and secured 20 points for the Lopes.

The Lopes followed with a strong showing in the 100-yard backstroke, placing five swimmers across the finals. GCU senior Alex Volkov earned silver in the championship final with a 46.30, while junior teammate Guillermo Carrey posted a personal-best time of 47.53 to finish fifth. Volkov's twin brother, Daniel, placed eighth (48.21). In the consolation final, Lopes junior Asher Havenhill recorded a personal best in 11th place (48.44), and senior Mohamed Mohamady also turned in a personal-best swim to finish 14th (48.93), resulting in a combined 51 points from the event.

Friday concluded with the 400-yard medley relay, where Grand Canyon delivered a dramatic victory to cap the session. The Lopes relay of Alex Volkov, Dooling, Ovaskainen and Carrey won the event in 3:07.69, edging Hawai'i by just 0.01 seconds and scoring 40 critical points. The relay win underscored GCU's depth and execution and provided significant momentum heading into Saturday's final day of competition.

Day 2 recap

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 recap

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.