Three members of the Case Western Reserve University men's and women's swimming and diving teams earned All-America honors on the first day of the four-day 2025 NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Championships held at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, North Carolina, on Wednesday.
Senior Peter Meng and juniors John Drumm and Emil LaSida all placed in the top 16 for CWRU to receive All-America honorable mentions. It is the third career honor for Meng, second for Drumm, and first for LaSida.
Meng placed 16th in the 200 IM in 1:49.67. He broke his own school record in the prelims of the event, recording a time of 1:48.71 to qualify for the consolation final. The previous record was 1:48.96, set at the 2024 University Athletic Association Championships. The 16th-place finish is the best by a Spartan in the 21st century and highest since Guy Genin finished 16th in 1990.
Drumm placed 15th in the 500 Free with a consolation final time of 4:32.39. He qualified for the B final with a time in the prelims of 4:28.39, just 0.19 seconds slower than the school record. The 15th-place finish is the highest by a Spartan in the event since Drew Hamilton finished 15th in 2017.
LaSida set a school record in the 50 Free with a time of 19.98 seconds, besting the previous record of 20.05 seconds from the Spartan Invitational and becoming the first swimmer in program history to break the 20-second mark. He recorded the time in a swim-off, defeating Jack Hill of Denison by 0.05 seconds, after tying for 16th in the prelims with a time of 20.18 seconds. In the consolation final, LaSida placed 15th with a time of 20.23 seconds to earn All-America honorable mention.
For the women's team, both senior Gabriella Chambers and junior Claire Kozma competed in the trials on the 50 Free. Chambers tied for 22nd in 23.42 seconds after entering the race seeded 20th with a school record time of 23.31 seconds. Kozma placed 32nd in 23.56 seconds, a personal-best time.
Chambers and Kozma joined seniors Simone Vale and Kate Menzer for the prelims of the 400 Medley Relay. The Spartan quartet placed 20th in 3:49.44 after entering the meet with a school-record time of 3:48.80.
The national championships continue on Thursday with preliminary action beginning at 10 a.m. and finals scheduled for 6 p.m. CWRU will compete in the 400 IM, 100 Fly, 200 Free, 1-meter dive, and 200 Free Relay.
Spartan Notes
- After one day of competition, the CWRU men's team is tied for 29th out of 36 scoring teams in the team standings with five points
- Meng is the first CWRU All-American in the 200 IM since Guy Genin in 1990 and just the third overall
- Drumm became the third Spartan to earn All-America honors in the 500 Free and the first since Drew Hamilton in 2017
- LaSida earned the second all-time All-America honor in the 50 Free for Case Western Reserve, joining John Erickson from 2007
- CWRU sent 13 swimmers and divers to the national meet, a program record. Last season, 11 members of the program competed at the championships with all of them earning All-America honors
