ST. LOUIS (April 11, 2024) – The Missouri Valley Conference announced it will sponsor men's swimming & diving for the 2024-25 season Thursday afternoon. UIC's men's swimming and diving program will be one of the seven teams joining the MVC next season.
"The Valley is excited and welcomes the opportunity to provide this experience for our student-athletes," MVC Commissioner Jeff Jackson said. "We look forward to a great championship event and the continued growth and enhancement of our Conference."
"I'm very excited that the Missouri Valley Conference will now sponsor men's swimming and diving," head coach
Ashley Dell said. "It's been a great experience for our women to be in the MVC the last two seasons and I know the men will continue to succeed."
This will be the first time the MVC has sponsored men's swimming & diving since 2002-03 season. The Flames will be joined by fellow MVC members Evansville, Missouri State, Southern Illinois, and current Mid-American Conference members Ball State along with Miami of Ohio to form a seven-team conference. The seven programs competed as members of the Mid-American Conference during the 2023-24 season. The Flames women's swimming & diving program currently competes in the Missouri Valley Conference.
"I am very excited that the men's swimming and diving team will be a part of the Missouri Valley Conference next season," Associate Head Coach/Diving Coach
Susan Bromberg said. "The MVC Championship Meet has been awesome for the women these past two years, and I am excited for the men being able to get the same experience."
The Flames are coming off a strong 2023-24 season, in which they placed fourth in the MAC Championships, seeing a 165.5-point improvement from the season before. UIC had 21 top-eight finishes in the three-day meet, with 12 finishing in the top-three of their events. Sophomore
Harrison Nolan (Riverside Ill./Riverside Brookfield) became a two-time MAC Champion, winning both individual diving events. The team accomplished 67 lifetime-bests over the season, setting seven individual records and two relay records during the season.
Out of the pool, the men's team maintained a 3.12 GPA in the Fall semester. Four members of the team achieved a 4.0 GPA: seniors
Liam Davis (Naperville, Ill./Plainfield North),
Alex Dvorak (Naperville, Ill./Plainfield North),
Rafe Dolan Peterson (Austin, Minn./Austin) and junior
Luke Wiesner (Chicago, Ill./West Chicago Community).
UIC Athletics as a whole finished with a 3.34 GPA in the Fall, extending its streak to 19 consecutive semesters with a department GPA of 3.0 or higher.
For more information, fans are encouraged to visit
UICFlames.com, or follow the Flames on social media through X (
@UIC_SwimDive and
@UICFlames) and Instagram (
@uic_swimdive and
@uicflames).
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