Making A Splash – A Season in Review
7/12/2021 2:30:00 PM | Swimming and Diving
RIVERSIDE – California Baptist University's 2020-21 men and women's swim and dive season began with the lingering memories of the previous season's championship weekend being abruptly halted and ultimately canceled in the growing wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The regular season would consist of just four swimming duals, one dive invite and a handful of intrasquad and virtual meets to keep the feeling of competition present throughout this unusual season. To protect the student-athletes and staff, the postseason setup would be unlike any in Western Athletic Conference history. The men's swimming, women's swimming and men's and women's dive competitions would all be held at separate locations at different times to allow for effective social distancing and safety.
"This past year was challenging but rewarding at the same time. Competing in dual meets between December and early February helped provide excitement before the biggest meet of the season, the WAC Conference Championships," said Head Swim Coach Rick Rowland. "The team came together and bonded well during separate male, female and diving conference championships on separate dates. We are very proud of the swimmers and divers in what they accomplished in the past challenging season."
The women's swim championship took place at Dixie State in St. George, Utah. It began the postseason as the Lancers claimed one champion in Isabella Rhodes, who won the 200-yard individual medley. Rebeca Oviedo brought home the most hardware on the women's side, as she claimed two silver medals in the 200 and 500 freestyles and a bronze in the 1650 free. Buse Topcu edged Oviedo in the 1650 free to take the silver medal.
The Lancers claimed nine total podium finishes, including a pair of bronze medal relays in the 200 and 400 medley, at the men's swim championship, which was hosted by UNLV in Las Vegas. Brandon Schuster earned a trio of individual silver medals in the 200 and 400 individual medleys and the 200 breaststroke. Robert Moseley brought home a pair of awards, claiming a silver medal in the 200 backstroke and a bronze medal in the 200 IM. Finally, Scott Tolman claimed gold for the Lancer men, besting the field in the 200 breaststroke a day after claiming second in the 100 breast.
The dive teams performed incredibly in the elevation of Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Ariz. They were led by a historic weekend for sophomore Evan Honer. He swept through the competition, earning gold in the 1-meter springboard, 3-meter springboard and the platform competitions and became the first male diver to sweep the three WAC Championship events. Honer also set a new CBU and WAC points record on the platform, with his score of 358.50 crushing the previous conference meet record by nearly 15 points.
Honer's sweeping success in the men's bracket amounted to much more than a sense of pride for Dive Coach Jeff Couto. The long-time Lancer coach was named the WAC Male Diving Coach of the Year when the competition concluded.
"This was obviously a unique year to say the least but within every challenge comes opportunity," said Diving Coach Jeff Couto. "Due to the challenges that were placed before all of us we had two decisions; try to survive or learn to adapt and become better. The student-athletes clearly took the second option and never looked back. I couldn't be more proud of how my athletes responded in the midst of all the uncertainty this season. It's another amazing year to be a Lancer!"
Kiree Lowe led the women's divers with a pair of finals appearances in the 3-meter competition and a silver medal effort on the platform. Tyler Stevens also made a pair of finals during the competition in the 3-meter and platform, while Lillian Choi made the finals cut in the platform competition. Both teams would claim fifth-place finishes in the competition.
On dry land, the team continued to show its prowess outside of the pool as well, as both squads again made the CSCAA's Scholar All-America list. The Lancer men made the list for a seventh-consecutive semester while the women squad earned their 10th-straight Scholar All-America Team award. The men's squad qualified with a cumulative GPA of 3.45, while the women made the list with a 3.67 GPA.
The regular season would consist of just four swimming duals, one dive invite and a handful of intrasquad and virtual meets to keep the feeling of competition present throughout this unusual season. To protect the student-athletes and staff, the postseason setup would be unlike any in Western Athletic Conference history. The men's swimming, women's swimming and men's and women's dive competitions would all be held at separate locations at different times to allow for effective social distancing and safety.
"This past year was challenging but rewarding at the same time. Competing in dual meets between December and early February helped provide excitement before the biggest meet of the season, the WAC Conference Championships," said Head Swim Coach Rick Rowland. "The team came together and bonded well during separate male, female and diving conference championships on separate dates. We are very proud of the swimmers and divers in what they accomplished in the past challenging season."
The women's swim championship took place at Dixie State in St. George, Utah. It began the postseason as the Lancers claimed one champion in Isabella Rhodes, who won the 200-yard individual medley. Rebeca Oviedo brought home the most hardware on the women's side, as she claimed two silver medals in the 200 and 500 freestyles and a bronze in the 1650 free. Buse Topcu edged Oviedo in the 1650 free to take the silver medal.
🏆
The best 200 IMer in the West(ern Athletic Conference)!#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/QFsaVs4eyU— California Baptist Swim/Dive (@CBUswim) February 19, 2021
The Lancers claimed nine total podium finishes, including a pair of bronze medal relays in the 200 and 400 medley, at the men's swim championship, which was hosted by UNLV in Las Vegas. Brandon Schuster earned a trio of individual silver medals in the 200 and 400 individual medleys and the 200 breaststroke. Robert Moseley brought home a pair of awards, claiming a silver medal in the 200 backstroke and a bronze medal in the 200 IM. Finally, Scott Tolman claimed gold for the Lancer men, besting the field in the 200 breaststroke a day after claiming second in the 100 breast.
⚔️🏊♂️🏊♂️
Olympics hopefuls, Lancer legends! #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/YWasYJP621— California Baptist Swim/Dive (@CBUswim) February 28, 2021
The dive teams performed incredibly in the elevation of Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Ariz. They were led by a historic weekend for sophomore Evan Honer. He swept through the competition, earning gold in the 1-meter springboard, 3-meter springboard and the platform competitions and became the first male diver to sweep the three WAC Championship events. Honer also set a new CBU and WAC points record on the platform, with his score of 358.50 crushing the previous conference meet record by nearly 15 points.
⭐️𝗗𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗥⭐️
After sweeping the Men's Diving Championships in Flagstaff last weekend, Evan Honer was named the @WACsports Men's Diver of the Year!#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/jdKmjbnEYY— California Baptist Swim/Dive (@CBUswim) March 3, 2021
Honer's sweeping success in the men's bracket amounted to much more than a sense of pride for Dive Coach Jeff Couto. The long-time Lancer coach was named the WAC Male Diving Coach of the Year when the competition concluded.
⭐️𝙳𝙸𝚅𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙲𝙾𝙰𝙲𝙷 𝙾𝙵 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚈𝙴𝙰𝚁⭐️
After leading his men's squad to three championships, and five finals appearances, CBU diving coach Jeff Couto has been named the @WACsports Men's Diving Coach of the Year!#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/TCIEwwyHYg— California Baptist Swim/Dive (@CBUswim) March 3, 2021
"This was obviously a unique year to say the least but within every challenge comes opportunity," said Diving Coach Jeff Couto. "Due to the challenges that were placed before all of us we had two decisions; try to survive or learn to adapt and become better. The student-athletes clearly took the second option and never looked back. I couldn't be more proud of how my athletes responded in the midst of all the uncertainty this season. It's another amazing year to be a Lancer!"
Kiree Lowe led the women's divers with a pair of finals appearances in the 3-meter competition and a silver medal effort on the platform. Tyler Stevens also made a pair of finals during the competition in the 3-meter and platform, while Lillian Choi made the finals cut in the platform competition. Both teams would claim fifth-place finishes in the competition.
🥈2⃣1⃣2⃣.8⃣0⃣🥈
Kiree Lowe puts up the second best platform score in CBU women's program history to claim silver in the final dive event of the competition!#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/pZRvXhzKH1— California Baptist Swim/Dive (@CBUswim) February 28, 2021
On dry land, the team continued to show its prowess outside of the pool as well, as both squads again made the CSCAA's Scholar All-America list. The Lancer men made the list for a seventh-consecutive semester while the women squad earned their 10th-straight Scholar All-America Team award. The men's squad qualified with a cumulative GPA of 3.45, while the women made the list with a 3.67 GPA.
📚🏊♂️🏊♀️💦
Another great year for our program GPA, these teams can do it all!#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/u7oEeCatTu— California Baptist Swim/Dive (@CBUswim) May 14, 2021
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