The Owls sent 10 swimmers to compete for the first time in the Toyota U.S. Open, a meet in Greensboro, N.C., that featured talent from all over the country. Yurii Kosian ’24 was the standout for the Owls, making it to an A Final — the fastest of the three finals.

After earning an NCAA Division III ‘A’ cut in the 200-meter backstroke last week, Kosian finished in 20th with a time of 2:04:79 in the same event at the U.S. Open preliminary heats. Kosian scratched in the finals, as he chose not to swim in the C Final. A day prior, Kosian notched his spot in the A Final in the 100-meter backstroke, finishing eighth with a time of 55.72. Competing against all Division I swimmers in the final, he placed eighth with a time of 56.17. “I was very excited to go there because it’s a new level, and I wanted to be on this level,” Kosian said.

Djordje Dragojlovic ’26 also competed in the 100-meter backstroke. On Saturday morning, he finished in 22nd place, qualifying for the C Final with a time of 57.33. In the evening, he came in fifth in his heat with a time of 55.47. Dragojlovic wished he could have swam better to earn a spot in the A Finals, but he was grateful to get another chance to swim. “Finals were awesome,” he wrote in an email to the Collegian. “The atmosphere was great.”

In the 100-meter butterfly, Marko Krtinic ’24 had a goal of making it into the finals, which he did by finishing in 22nd (54.98). “I really wanted to experience what it is like racing in the finals of a high level meet,” he wrote in an email to the Collegian. In the C Final, he placed fifth with a time of 54.88. 

Jennah Fadely ’25 was the lone female swimmer to make it to a final. In the preliminary heats of the 100-meter breaststroke, Fadley finished in 23rd with a time of 1:11:97 — making it into the C Final by less than a tenth of a second. “When I saw I made finals I was excited for the opportunity to see where I could do better or improve,” Fadely wrote in an email to the Collegian. She dropped over a second from her prelim time (1:10.68) to finish second in the C Final.

Overall, the swimmers had a great time. “I really enjoyed being able to travel to such a big meet and experience it and learn from it while I was there,” Fadely said. She and the other nine members will compete with the rest of the swim and dive team in dual meets on Jan. 2 for their annual Florida training trip.