Swim and Dive Concludes Run at MVC Championships

Wednesday, February 25

Evansville, IN.

Southern Illinois University

Women's MVC Championships

Juraj Barcot

02/28/2026 | 10:55:00 | Swimming & Diving

Men's Complete Results Women's Complete Results

By: Peter Borkowski

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The last four days featured the 2026 Missouri Valley Conference Swim and Dive Championships in Evansville, and it was another successful run for Southern Illinois. The men's squad finished in third place with a score of 1,189.50, while the women finished as the event's runner-up with their score of 1,161. Meanwhile, a pair of Salukis walked away with individual, end-of-year awards.

"I am extremely proud of this team, both women and men," says head coach Geoff Hanson. "This was our first combined championship in more than 20 years, and this group was really cohesive and brought the best out of one another. Over the four-day meet, we had so many amazing performances, individual wins, relay wins, and program records; it is hard to single any one out. A true team effort and a special group."

How it Happened

Day One - Wednesday
The first finals of the championships began with a MVC record-resetting win for the women's 200-freestyle relay team and their finish of 1:30.32 thanks to the efforts of Susy Hernandez, Zaria Terry, Ava Rines, and Masha Zhukova. Olivia Herron then grabbed SIU's first individual championship of the event with her 1:58.31 time and win in the 200-IM.

Benedek Andor was the first men's champion for the Salukis, taking first place in the 200-IM with his time of 1:44.63. Another individual champion was found in Hernandez, who took the crown in the 50-freestyle with her time of 22.81. Southern closed day one out with a win in the 400-medley relay, where Herron, Hernandez, Brooklyn Anderson, and Liseska Gallegos Gutierrez finished their swim in 3:37.11.

Day Two - Thursday
Day two started with a broken record for the Salukis, as Willem Huggins rewrote the MVC record book for the 200-freestyle with his prelims time of 1:35.72.

Moving to finals, Carter Ruthven pulled off the win in the 100-butterfly thanks to his swim of 46.48. Anderson than brought home the win in the 400-IM with her gold-medal swim of 4:15.65.

Day Three - Friday
Herron added another piece of hardware to collection on Friday, grabbing gold in the 200-butterfly with her finish of 1:59.75. Gallegos then joined the winners' circle after her 53.34 100-backstroke swim topped all the competitors. Southern also grabbed a relay win on Friday with their men's 800-freestyle relay team, comprised of Huggins, Rodrigo Ramos Chávez, Juraj Barcot, and Alex Cimera. The four finished their swim in 6:25.92.

Day Four -Saturday
The final day of the championships featured Gallegos grabbing another championship, this time winning the 200-backstroke with a time of 1:56.46. Herron also won another individual event, placing first in the 200-breaststroke with her time of 2:11.01. Southern closed out the championship with a win in the men's 400-freestyle relay with a time of 2:53.90.

End-of-Year Awards
Following the completion of the championships, two Salukis walked away with end-of-year awards from the conference.

Herron was named the MVC Women's Swimmer of the Year, marking the third straight season a Saluki has won the award after Celia Pulido won the previous two titles. During the championships, Herron won three individual championships. The senior was named the MVC Women's Swimmer of the Week five times this regular season.

Additionally, Cimera won the Men's Elite 18 Award for a second straight season. The award is given by the conference to the student-athlete with the highest-cumulative grade-point-average competing at the finals site of The Valley's 18 team championships. Cimera currently holds a 4.0 GPA in Aviation Management.

Up Next
A few postseason events still lie ahead for the Salukis. If the team is to send any athlete to the NCAA Diving Zones, that takes place on March 9-11 in Michigan. Then, any Salukis qualified for the NCAA Championships will travel to Atlanta on March 18 for the four-day event.

Follow the Salukis
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the swim and dive teams by following the them on X at @SIU_SwimDive, on Instagram at @siu_swimdive , and on Facebook at facebook.com/SIUSwimDive. Fans can also download the "Salukis" Mobile App on the App Store or Google Play Store.