CHICAGO, Ill. – Day one of the D3 Shootout at the University of Chicago is in the books, and the Trinity University men's swimming and diving team is holding its own against some of the top programs in Division III.
Trinity opened the meet with an eighth-place finish in the 200 medley relay.
Apollo Aceves (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. / Trabuco Hills) led off with a 23.95 split in the 50 backstroke, followed by
Daniel Apostol (Billings, Mont. / Central Catholic), who clocked a 24.88 in the breaststroke leg.
Nickolas Rotolo (Houston, Texas / Cairo American College) followed with a 22.64 butterfly split before
Jack Hester (Round Rock, Texas / Cedar Ridge) anchored the freestyle leg. The quartet finished in 1:31.41, improving on Trinity's time from the same point last season by 1.6 seconds.
The Tigers continued their strong showing in the 100 backstroke, with Hester securing fourth place in 50.24 and
Philip Mu finishing 13th in 51.79. Both swimmers will look to carry that momentum into Saturday's 200 backstroke. In the 200 freestyle,
Luke Fender (Jackson, Miss. / St. Andrew's Episcopal) added another fourth-place finish for Trinity, while Rotolo placed 19th. Apostol continued the Tigers' success with a fourth-place performance in the 100 breaststroke, touching the wall in 56.16. Freshman
Ethan Lim (Frisco, Texas / Frisco) also delivered a strong swim, finishing 17th with a personal-best time of 57.97.
On the diving boards, freshman
Aiden Musella (Corpus Christi, Texas / King) competed in the 3-meter event, posting a score of 259.35. Musella incorporated three new dives into his performance, demonstrating continued improvement and promising potential.
Trinity rounded out the day with another pair of strong performances in the 200 butterfly. Rotolo led the way with a sixth-place finish, while Aceves added a 16th-place showing.
Looking Ahead
The Tigers will return to the pool on Saturday, November 7, for the second and final day of the D3 Shootout in Chicago. Trinity will look to build on Friday's performances and climb the team standings before returning to San Antonio to prepare for the Tiger Invite.
