FEDERAL WAY, WASH.- The Whitman men took were crowned champions of the 2023 NWC Swimming Championship hosted by Whitman College in Federal Way, Washington. Aftere a tight race throughout the meet, Whitman earned a total of 625 points for the win.
The 2022 champions, Whitworth, ended the meet in a close second with 610.5 points followed by Linfield (534), Puget Sound (342), Lewis & Clark (281.5), Willamette (256), Pacific Lutheran (237), George Fox (228), and Pacific (113).
The final day of competition kicked off with the 1650 freestyle, with Gavin Smith of Linfield taking first with a final time of 16:21.82. Tanner Filion of Whitman dominated the 200 backstroke with a final time of 1:42.97. His time earns him an automatic qualifier for the 2023 NCAA National Championships and takes down his own meet record set in 2022. Filion was also the champion in the 100 backstroke and 200 freestyle. Zachary Washburn of Whitworth touched first in the 100 freestyle with a final time of 44.06, earning his third win of the meet following the 50 freestyle and 100 breaststroke. Washburn's 100 freestyle sets a new meet and conference record, the previous conference record of 44.28 by Karl Mering of Whitman set in 2015 and the meet record of 44.73 set in 2022 by Jacob Goguen of Whitworth.
Washburn's time also earns him an NCAA B cut and is faster than the selected time from the 2022 national meet. Freshman Brody Faser of Whitworth claimed his first title in the 200 breaststroke with a final time of 2:05.49 after finishing first in prelims. Faser finished second in the 200 individual medley and 400 individual medley earlier in the meet. Senior Benjamin Simpson of Linfield touched first in the 200 butterfly in a final time of 1:49.66 after entering finals as the top seed from the morning's session. Simpson's time earns him an NCAA B cut.
In the final event of the evening, the Linfield relay of Edan Donaldson, Garrett Sutton, Carson Washburn, and Benjamin Simpson earned gold with a final time of 3:02.82.
Northwest Conference Commissioner Kim Wenger awarded "-of the Year" awards on the final night of competition. Co-Swimmer of the Year was awarded to Whitman senior Tanner Filion and Whitworth sophomore Zachary Washburn. Both finished first in their three individual events of the meet. Rookie of the Year was awarded to Brody Faser from Whitworth. Men's Coach of the Year was awarded to Jennifer Blomme of Whitman.