The UW-Whitewater men’s swim and dive team made history in their Nov. 8 matchup against UW-Oshkosh, claiming their 20th consecutive victory over the Titans with a 140-70 win. The Warhawks dominant performance came in their first meet after a three-week break that consisted of strictly training.

Whitewater took control of the meet from the first event. In the 200-meter medley relay, the team garnered both first and second place. The first place relay team consisted of sophomore Ethan Schmohe, sophomore Noah Johnson, junior Dom Schlueter and senior Donny Gramer; they finished with a time of 1 minute 37.95 seconds, while teammates junior Matt Ozog, sophomore Owen Phillips and junior Daniel Keller followed in second, narrowly edging out Oshkosh’s third-place team by just 0.05 seconds.

Head coach Elise Knoche expressed her pride in the team’s strong performance despite their recent break from competition. 

“It had been almost three weeks since we had competed in a meet, and since then we have been training really hard in practices,” Knoche said. “I was very happy with how we were able to seamlessly jump back into competition.”

That ability to “seamlessly jump back into competition” was evident throughout the meet as the Warhawks dominated event after event. Sophomore Caleb Weis took a commanding lead in the 1000-meter free and didn’t look back, timing in at 10:26.4, an impressive 30 seconds ahead of the second place swimmer. 

Another standout was junior Ethan Bergman, who showcased his versatility with wins in both the 200-meter free and the 100-meter butterfly. Bergman’s performance helped extend the Warhawks lead early on, with his 200 free swim clocking in at 1:50.80, just over two seconds faster than his teammate Phillips. In the 100 butterfly, Bergman took first again with a time of 54.29, adding another first place finish to the Warhawks haul.

Among the many impressive performances, Keller was a notable standout in the 400-meter IM, finishing first with a time of 4:25:42. Known for his versatility as an individual medley swimmer, Keller’s adaptability was on display again as he podiumed in the 100 breaststroke with a third place finish. Reflecting on his performance, Keller credited his training and mental preparation for his ability to switch between such contrasting events. 

“My swims against Oshkosh felt great for having a tough couple weeks of training beforehand,” Keller said. “When I have a tough event like the 400 IM, I always try to clear my mind leading up to it. I’ve had enough practice with that event now that I can trust my training and take it one lap at a time.”

The significance of the night’s victory went beyond the first place finishes, as the dominant win lifted the team’s morale and fortified their unity moving forward. Keller acknowledged the boost this win provides as the Warhawks enter a demanding midseason stretch.

“Both the men’s and women’s teams won, and that certainly was a great morale boost going into our midseason meet,” Keller said. “There was a solid team atmosphere, and performances like that bring us closer towards our collective goals and closer as a team.”

Knoche also shared her excitement about the team’s overall improvement since the start of the season, noting that many swimmers achieved season-best times at the meet.

“Overall, we dropped time from our previous season-best times across the board, which demonstrates that the entire team has been making strides forward these past few weeks of training,” Knoche said. “This meet was the first of four meets in the span of the following three weeks, so it was a great way to kick off the end of the fall competition phase for us.”

Yet, for all of the positives displayed, Knoche highlighted some areas for improvement that the team will address for future meets.

“Since we have been training hard in practice, we had some sloppy turns and starts throughout the meet,” Knoche said. “That will be something we focus on more as we look to our midseason meet at Luther.”

With the win, the Whitewater swim and dive team now holds an unblemished 20-0 all-time record against Oshkosh. 

The Warhawks will be back at home for the National “Hour of Power” meet for sarcoma research on Nov. 12.