HAMPTON, Va. – The 18th-ranked Salisbury University men's swimming team continued its steady climb up the league pecking order, finishing in second place at the 2026 New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Swimming & Diving Championships after a strong fourth and final day of competition on Sunday at the Hampton Aquaplex.
The Sea Gulls wrapped proceedings with 1,319 points, taking the silver medal with ease over bronze medalists Merchant Marine (1,071). Only champions TCNJ (1,709) finished ahead of SU in the field of nine teams.
Salisbury has improved its championship positioning by one slot for the second straight year after finishing fourth at NJACs in 2024 and third in 2025. SU's point total improved on last year's (1,181.5) by 137.5 points, and the gulf between the Sea Gulls and TCNJ in the standings shrunk from 532.5 points in 2025 to 390 points in 2026.
TOP PERFORMERS
- In the final race of the meet, the Sea Gulls took the 400-yard freestyle relay silver medal, with Cameron Byrd, Michael DeSimone, Themo Rigakos, and Owen Brewer teaming up for a 3:00.32 time that hit the NCAA B-cut benchmark and sat just 14 hundredths of a second back of TCNJ for gold.
- Byrd added a solo silver in the 200 butterfly in a time of 1:49.38 that cleared the B-cut by a quarter of a second.
- Dominic Kazzi reeled in the bronze in the 200 breaststroke, touching up in 2:02.15 for his second individual medal of the meet and fourth overall. Brady Wolf (2:03.58) also placed sixth in the event.
- Brewer finished just off the podium in the 100 free, snagging fourth in 45.40 seconds.
- In the 200 backstroke, Everett Rachael registered fifth place in 1:50.13.
- Owen Mahoney (15:55.34) and Matt Merke (16:07.18) finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the session-opening 1,650 free.
Those Sea Gulls with the proper national qualifying marks will finish the season competing at the 2026 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships, which will take place on Mar. 18-21 at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis. The national championship field will be revealed at a later date.
Salisbury University is a proud member of NCAA Division III with primary membership in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference, along with affiliate membership in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (football, men's & women's swimming), Coastal Lacrosse Conference (men's lacrosse), State University of New York Athletic Conference (field hockey), and Colonial Women's Golf Conference (women's golf). With over 500 student-athletes in 23 varsity sports, SU is recognized as one of the nation's most competitive intercollegiate athletics programs regardless of division, featuring dedicated coaches and staff that foster excellence on and off the field. The Sea Gulls have won a combined 23 team national championships, 24 individual national championships, and 207 conference championships, and have produced 54 Academic All-Americans.
To Make Tomorrow Yours at Salisbury University, and learn more about Sea Gull Athletics' tradition of excellence, visit SUSeaGulls.com or follow on social media @SUSeaGulls.
