THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Luke Rodarte earned 2022 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCAIC) Swimmer of the Year honors to lead California Lutheran University at the swimming championships this past week.
It is the third straight year a Kingsmen was named Swimmer of the Year. Andreas Nybo collected the honor in 2019 and 2020.
Following his tremendous performance at the SCIAC Swimming & Diving Championships, Rodarte (Truckee, Calif.) earned the distinction after winning both the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke events, clocking respective times of 52.98 seconds and 1:57.75. Both were Cal Lutheran SCIAC Championship all-time records. He also helped the Kingsmen to a second-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay (3:18.62), as well as third-place finishes in the 200-yard medley relay (1:29.50) and 200-yard free relay (1:23.39) as he earned five All-SCIAC honors in total. He has earned seven All-SCIAC honors in his career.
Nybo (Portola Valley, Calif.) tied Rodarte for the most All-SCIAC honors for the Purple and Gold as he tallied five, three individuals and two relays. Nybo was runner-up in the 200-yard individual medley and the 200-yard butterfly with 1:50.07 and 1:48.48, respectively. He was third in the 100 fly with 48:51, which was his life-time best, and set the school record. He was also a member of the 400 medley relay that was second and the 200 medley relay that was third. He has earned All-SCIAC 19 times in his career.
Cole Weiderman was the third Kingsmen to earn All-SCIAC for an individual event. He took bronze in the 1650-yard freestyle with 15:41.51, earning his first-ever All-SCIAC honor. His time was 21 seconds faster than his previous best.
Nick Kenny (Medina, Wash.), Miles Gaitan (Santa Barbara, Calif.), Keegan March (University Place (Wash.) and Joshua Nekoba (Honolulu, Hawaii) all earned All-SCIAC awards for their part on relay teams.
Kenny was a member of the 200 and 400 medley relays and 200 and 400 frees relays, Gaitan swam the 200 and 400 medley relays, and March was on the 200 and 400 free relays and Nekoba was on the 200 free relay.
On top of all the SCIAC honors, the team also rewrote a lot of the record book. March broke the school record in the 200 free (1:39.93), Rodarte broke the record in the 100 breast (52.98) and Nybo broke the record in the 100 fly (48.51). The Kingsmen also broke the school relay records for the 400 free relay and the 200 and 400 medley relays.
Below is the complete list of every top-10 time from the 2022 SCIAC Championships for the men.
50 Free
7th March - 21.13
9th Nekoba - 21.28
10th Rodarte - 21.29
100 Free
7th March - 46.25
9th Nathan Sellers - 46.44
200 Free
1st March - 1:39.93
5th Weiderman - 1:42.22
6th Sellers - 1:42.74
10th Kenny - 1:43.56
500 Free
2nd Stephen Blaauw - 4:31.26
4th Weiderman - 4:33.29
1650 Free / Mile
2nd Weiderman - 15:41.51
3rd Blaauw - 15:49.80
100 Back
5th Kyle Denson - 53.40
200 Back
2nd Gaitan - 1:52.94
3rd Denson - 1:53.72
100 Breast
1st Rodarte - 52.98
4th Lincoln Hall - 56.47
5th Brenden Fuggles - 57.72
200 Breast
3rd Fuggles - 2:05.91
4th Hall - 2:06.22
100 Fly
1st Nybo - 48.51
5th Zane Booth - 50.75
6th Marcel Hurtubise - 50.85
200 IM
2nd Gaitan - 1:52.31
8th Caelan Jack - 1:56.85
Relay Records
200 Medley Relay - Gaitan, Rodarte, Nybo, Kenny - 1:29.50
400 Medley Relay - Gaitan, Rodarte, Nybo, Kenny - 3:18.62
400 Free Relay - March, Rodarte, Nybo, Kenny - 3:02.80
SCIAC Release: SCIAC Men's Swimming & Diving All-Conference
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director