OCALA, Fla. - The Lynn University swim teams closed out a historic week at the 2026 Sunshine State Conference Championships with podium finishes on both sides, as the Fighting Knight men placed third overall with 554 points and the women followed suit with a third-place finish and 508 points.
 
Maurice Grabowski was named the Sunshine State Conference Swimmer of the Meet for the second consecutive year, highlighting a historic week for the Lynn University swim teams at the 2026 SSC Championships as Lynn capped the meet with record-breaking gold medals, school records, and clutch relay performances heading into the NCAA Division II Championships.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED (Women):
- Prior to Sunday evening's finals, Eva Stacey went the distance in the 1650 Free, placing 13th in 17:39.66
- Luz Tapia kicked off the final session of the meet with a seventh-place finish in the 100 Free, touching the wall at 50.85
- Mariele De Santis placed sixth in the 100 Back finals, touching at 2:01.51 followed by Ala Piascinska in ninth (2:04.17)
- Ally Webster recorded the top time for the Blue and White in the 200 Breast, cruising into 11th place at 2:21.77
- The Lynn women found themselves on the podium in the final event of the meet, taking third in the 400 Free Relay (Tapia, Adel Pal, Krystina Zavalaga, Malaika Schneider - 3:23.19)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED (Men):
- Emre Sungur closed out the morning session with a 10th place finish in the men's 1650 Free (16.19.75)
- Grabowski continued to shine at the SSCs, picking up another first place, record-setting finish in the 100 Free, surpassing his previous conference record at 42.24 for the third highest time in Division II history
- Paul Melcer found himself on the podium once again, placing second in the 200 Back at 1:44.86 for a new school record
- Max Tsyfarov earned gold for the second night in a row, taking home first place in the 200 Breast (1:56.60) for a new Lynn record
- The men ended the event with a silver finish in the 400 Free Relay, setting a Blue and White record time of 2:54.74 (Vitaly Kostin, Enzo Constable, Brayden Moore, Grabowski)
 
2026 SSC CHAMPIONSHIPS OVERVIEW:
- Grabowski finished the meet with 4 gold medals (50 Free, 100 Fly, 100 Back, 100 Free) while setting an SSC record in the 100 Back and 100 Free along with meet records in the 50 Free and 100 Fly
- Tsyfarov earned two gold medals in the 100 and 200 Breast, while setting a school record in the 200
- Kostin collected three medals in his last SSC meet including a silver in the 100 Fly and bronze in the 200 Free and 200 Fly
- Melcer returns to Lynn with two medals including a silver in the 200 Back (new school record) and a bronze in the 100 Back
-  De Santis picked up three medals at the SSCs including a silver in the 400 IM and a bronze in both the 200 IM and 200 Fly
- Lydia Douthit placed second in the 100 Fly, returning to Boca with a silver medal
- The men's relay teams tallied a collection of three medals including golds in the 200 Medley Relay (meet record) and 400 Medley Relay (SSC record) as well as a silver in the 400 Free (school record)
- the women's relay teams finished the meet with a total of four medals including silvers in the 200 Medley Relay and the 400 Medley Relay as well as bronzes in the 800 Free Relay and the 400 Free Relay
 
UP NEXT:
The Fighting Knights will now prepare for the NCAA Division II Championships, set for March 10-14 in Evansville Ind.