INDIANAPOLIS – The Milwaukee men's and women's swimming & diving teams completed the first day of the 2023 House of Champions meet hosted by IUPUI, sitting at 3rd place on the women's side and 5th on the men's side.
 
Events that took place on the first day of competition included the 200 yard freestyle relay, 500 yard freestyle, 200 yard individual medley, 50 yard freestyle, and the 400 yard medley relay. After the morning preliminary heats, Milwaukee advanced multiple swimmers in every event. In total, thirty spots in Thursday's finals heats were occupied by Panthers or Panther relay teams.
 
The Panthers' lone championship podium of the day came from Nhia Caras in the women's 50 free. Caras placed third in the event, recording a time of 23.27 seconds. Zach McClellan managed a first-place finish in the bonus final of the 200 individual medley, improving on his prelim time by more than a second and touching the wall in 1:52.59. Finishing one spot ahead of McClellan was Victor Kostov, placing 16th overall and 8th in the consolation final.
 
The women's 200 freestyle relay team just missed the podium with a fourth-place finish, coming in at 1:33.17, 0.09 seconds slower than third. The men's 200 freestyle relay team had a similar finish, finishing fifth, less than a second out of the top three.
 
Antoni Haupt and Audrey Dixon each managed third-place finishes in their events – Haupt in the consolation 500 free and Dixon in the bonus 500 free. Jay Jensen finished just two seconds off the podium in his 500 free championship heat, placing fifth. Competing in the championship finals of the women's 500 free, Lilly Nesson took sixth, and Jackson Hodek finished 16th overall on the men's side of the 500 free.
 
Erika Thomas grabbed seventh overall in the 200 individual medley, touching the wall in 2:06.88. Joining Thomas in the 200 IM were Johanna Edgren and Katherine Hackett, finishing 13th and 14th overall. In the women's 50 free, Janelle Schulz finished in seventh, recording a time of 23.56 seconds. Carly Plate and Noelle Bryan followed her in 14th and 16th overall.
 
Ben Lorenz competed well in the 50 free, taking fifth overall with a time of 20.44 seconds. Griffin Hawley finished eighth in the 50 free consolation final for 16th overall. Finally, the men's 400 yard medley relay team consisting of Hayden Christiansen, Andrew Jones, Nik Wheeler, and Charlie House finished fourth overall with a time of 3:19.74.
 
The Panthers are back at it again tomorrow and Saturday in Indianapolis.