Attendance Guidelines: All spectators at Valparaiso are required to wear masks.  All spectators at Flames Natatorium are required to wear masks, as well as provide proof of vaccination, as per City of Chicago regulations.

At long last, UIC will return to the pool Friday afternoon in a dual meet at Valparaiso.

The previously scheduled home meet against Southern Illinois has been cancelled due to Covid protocols within the SIU program.  UIC's opponent for Saturday's Senior Day meet at Flames Natatorium, Green Bay, has also been paused due to Covid protocols.  The Flames will still hold their home meet on Saturday against a to-be-determined opponent.

The Flames last competed in November at the IUPUI House of Champions invitational.  Their customary holiday and training break was extended when last weekend's meet was canceled.  Now, nearly two full months since their last competitive outing, the Valpo meet will serve as the beginning of the stretch run before the Horizon League championships, which start in just one month.

Before the break, Poleena Kovalaske and Jeff Wiedoff set the team's top times in the sprint free events.  Lizzie Zeller, Taira Juronis, and Lilly Culp have the women's best performances to date in backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly, respectively.  The men had a more diverse group of top contributors, with Cory Michalek, Ben Ramminger, Liam Davis, and Wiedoff each setting the bar in a stroke. 

Kovalaske is among the Horizon League's top five swimmers this season in the 50 free and 100 free.  Victoria Thor, Christina Neri, and Jan Komorowski all have top-five league times in distance freestyle events.

Juronis and Kyle Lewarchick established the Flames' IM standards.  Cydney Liebenberg and Felix Lafortune continue to dominate the diving events, with 11 wins between them.

Valparaiso returned to action at the beginning of the month at the Orange Bowl Swim Classic in Florida.  The Beacons are winless in dual meet action.  Their men and women both dropped triple-dual contests to Horizon League squads Youngstown State and Green Bay in October.

The meet at Valparaiso starts at 5:00 p.m. Friday.  UIC's home meet Saturday will begin at noon, with the senior ceremony taking place before the meet.