A Trio of Titles, Broken Relay Record Highlight Night Two of BIG EASTs

A Trio of Titles, Broken Relay Record Highlight Night Two of BIG EASTs

2/20/2026 1:19:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving

OCALA, FLA. – Led by a trio of individual BIG EAST titles and a relay record, the Seton Hall men's swim and dive team put up many notable performances on the second day of the 2026 BIG EAST Swim and Dive Championships.

Diving
After securing a position in the one-meter board final with ease during prelims, sophomore phenom Nick Graham found himself in the perfect position to claim his first BIG EAST title. It would not come easily, however. After ending the first round in last place, the emotionless Graham unleashed a five-dive stretch that most athletes would dream about.

After scoring 55.50 on his second and third dives, he sat in prime position to take the lead with one big dive. With Graham, however, those dives came in bunches. As his competition fell under the pressure, the Long Island native remained cool and decisive, scoring a merciless 60.45 and 71.30 on his next two dives to all but put the championship in his hands. With one final dive of 59.20, his fifth straight dive with a score of 55 or higher, Graham got his revenge and secured his first BIG EAST title by over 20 points with a score of 348.85.

Swimming
Finals began in auspicious fashion when Wesley Schlachter narrowly missed a career-best time in the 500 freestyle consolation final. Following that showing, a trio of Pirates stepped behind the blocks in search of their first BIG EAST titles in the same vent. While Jack Callan was in a central lane, the two ends of the pool were flanked by friendly faces in the form of Clil Halevi and Zach McLeod. The training partners blitzed off the blocks as the starter sounded and the trio went into battle.

Together, they eased themselves into the race while their opposition pressed early. At the midpoint, however, Callan made a break for the title and never looked back. Despite a late charge from Xavier's Connor Lathrop, Callan secured his first BIG EAST title with a 4:26.25 showing. While Halevi and McLeod did not podium, they collected crucial points in fourth and sixth place with times of 4:28.26 and 3:29.37, respectively.

Before the championship final of the 200 IM arrived, Jake Karulf caused quite a stir in the event's consolation final. After a strong opening two legs, the sophomore had fallen narrowly behind his opposition heading into the final freestyle leg. Karulf, however, had other ideas, unleashing a blistering 25.90 split to beat out opposition from Georgetown to top the heat.

As the championship finalists stepped behind the blocks, Balint Marosi and Kevin Cary found themselves in a similar situation to last year. While Marosi was the higher seed, Cary would do everything he could to add to his trophy collection. Marosi took the early advantage, pacing the field by nearly a second heading into the breaststroke leg.

However, Cary and the rest of Marosi's opposition pulled even closer heading into the final 50 yards. Marosi pulled away coming out of the final turn, sealing his second consecutive BIG EAST title in the event with a school-record time of 1:45.82. Meanwhile, Cary remained locked in a three-way battle for second place. As three swimmers raced to the wall, Cary matched up his stroke count perfectly. The senior nailed his finish, securing second place by 0.10 seconds over the next closest swimmer to hand the Pirates an important 1-2 finish on the night.

With only one individual event left, another trio of Pirates entered the arena with a chance at BIG EAST fame. Evan Wilson, Michael Klimaszewski and Toma Adam calmly sat behind the blocks, awaiting their chance to write their name into the history books. As the starter sounded and the greatest lottery in swimming commenced, Adam collected his signature strong start. The wake of his opposition would hinder him, however, and he would merely collect a third-place finish with a time of 20.05. Klimaszewski and Wilson came home in sixth and seventh place with times of 20.44 and 20.71, respectively.

With only the 200 freestyle relay left, the Pirates were in search of another banner performance to close the night. Adam, Marosi, Wilson and Cary all went behind the blocks in search of that showing. While Georgetown took the early lead, Wilson and Cary, alongside the Xavier Musketeers, closed down on the Hoyas in the final lap. However, Georgetown's early advantage proved too much to overcome, and The Hall finished third. It was not in vain, however, as their third-place time of 1:19.69 was good enough for a new school record by over a second.

What's Next
The Pirates will kick off day three of the BIG EAST Championship at 10 a.m. on YouTube. Finals will be streamed on ESPN+ starting at 5:45 p.m.