The Gustavus men’s swimming and diving team finished first out of three teams at the Saint John’s Winter Invitational in Collegeville on Saturday afternoon. The Gusties won eight individual events and two relays at the meet including a sweep of the top three places in the 200 freestyle, the 200 butterfly, and the 500 freestyle. Matt Stewart led the squad with a trio of first place finishes including the 200 free (1:44.03), the 500 free (4:48.05), and the 200 butterfly (1:57.79).
Paul Kirihara and William Schultze were double winners with Kirihara winning the 100 (54.83) and 200 (2:02.57) backstroke, and Schultze winning the 100 (1:01.94) and 200 (2:02.57) breaststroke.
The other individual event winner was Skylar Davis in the 400 individual medley (4:21.16).
In the relays, the foursome of Paul Kirihara, William Schultze, Matt Stewart, and Tyler Wakefield won the 200 medley relay in a time of 2:09.85, while the quartet of Skylar Davis, Dave Pearson, Whitaker Davis, and Matt Stewart won the 800 free relay in a time 7:13.71.
The Gusties posted impressive top three sweeps in the three events including the 200 freestyle where Matt Stewart finished first (1:44.03), Dave Pearson finished second (1:47.17), and Whitaker Davis finished third (1:49.20), the 200 butterfly where Matt Stewart finished first (1:57.79), Josh Seaburg finished second (2:05.06), and Ben Stewart finished third (2:09.12), and the 500 free where Matt Stewart finished first (4:48.05), Skylar Davis finished second (4:48.18), and Whitaker Davis finished third (4:51.82).