INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The Lynn University men's and women's swimming teams delivered a powerful opening-night performance at the 2025 House of Champions Invitational, highlighted by multiple event wins, top-three finishes, and strong relay showings on both sides of the roster. The women surged to seventh place behind key scoring swims and a top-five finish in the 400 medley relay, while the men powered their way to fourth place with victories in the 200 free relay, 400 medley relay, and a dominant 1-2 finish in both the 50 back and 50 free. The strong first-day results set the tone for a high-energy weekend in Indianapolis.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED (Women):
- Lynn's relay team of Krystina Zavalaga, Alexis Mihok, Lily Drons, and Malaika Schneider took 7th place in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:34.93, highlighted by a 23.14 anchor from Schneider
- In the 50-yard backstroke, Alicja Piascinska earned a B-final appearance and placed 14th overall in 26.51, while Mihok added a C-final swim, finishing 21st in 26.99
- Tapia placed 8th in the championship final of the 500-yard freestyle, clocking 4:59.60, while Eva Stacey added a scoring swim in the B-final with 5:02.74 for 14th overall
- The 200-yard IM featured a scoring swims from Mariele De Santis who finished 10th (2:03.68) and Ally Webster who finished closely behind in 11th (2:04.55)
- In the 50-yard freestyle, Schneider led the Fighting Knights with a 23.48, good for 10th place
- The women closed the night with the 400-yard medley relay, where Lynn posted 3:45.98 for fifth behind strong legs from Piascinska, Schneider, Lydia Douthit and Tapia, securing more evening points for the Fighting Knights
- After the first day of the meet, the women sit in seventh place with 334.5 points
 
HOW IT HAPPENED (Men):
- The Lynn A-relay of Vitaly Kostin, Paul Melcer, Enzo Constable, and Maurice Grabowski captured first place in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a winning time of 1:19.43, powered by Grabowski's 19.45 anchor split
- Grabowski won the 50-yard backstroke in 21.92, followed closely by teammate Melcer, who placed 2nd in 22.22 to complete a Lynn 1-2 finish in the event
- Kamil Geisner scored in the B-final with a 12th-place time of 23.11, while Owen Kerkezi (23.40) and Alejandro Lopez-Romero (24.61) added additional points out of the C and D finals
- Kostin secured an individual win in the 500-yard free, swimming an impressive 4:21.99 for first place
- Paul Warnagiris took 19th in the 200-yard IM with a time of 1:52.27
- The Fighting Knights claimed the top two spots in the 50-yard free as Grabowski took first (19.59) followed closely behind by Constable (19.79) for second
- The Blue and White men closed out the night with a final relay win in the 400-yard medley relay as the team of Melcer, Maxim Tsyfarov, Kostin and Constable claimed a meet record time of 3:10.21
- The men of Lynn finished the first day of competition in fourth place with 516 points
 
UP NEXT:
 
Lynn returns to the pool Friday morning for Day Two prelims at 10:00 AM, continuing three days of championship swimming at the IU Natatorium.