The Lindenwood men's swimming and diving team won the 2014 New South Intercollegiate Swim Conference Championship on Saturday evening. The title is the first NCAA Division II conference championship for the program, and the team is the fifth at Lindenwood to win a conference championship at the NCAA level.

The Lions finished the competition with 992.5 points and finished 70.5 points ahead of runner-up Delta State. Lindenwood grabbed a narrow lead on the first day of the event and held on to it for the rest of the competition. The rest of the field included Henderson State (682), Ouachita Baptist (534.5), and Emmanuel (301).

David Cochran was named the Diver of the Meet and Chris Pape was the Diving Coach of the Year. Jason Owen was named the NSISC Co-Swimming Coach of the Year.

Lindenwood won 12 of the 21 races at the competition, including four participants who won two individual races each. Igor Mijatovic won the 1,000 and 1,650 free races, Gustavo Silva Santa won the 200 and 500 free events, Mateusz Pacholczyk won the 100 and 200 breast, and Cochran won both one-meter and three-meter diving events. The other individual winner was Felix Eigel in the 400 IM. In the relays, Lindenwood won the 400 and 800 free relays, and the 200 medley relay.

Eleven Lindenwood swimmers have earned all-conference honors in Ivars Akmentins, Sylwester Borowicz-Skoneczny, Cochran, Eigel, Cody Friedhoff, Mijatovic, Pacholczyk, Ramunas Paknys, Arturs Plots, Alex Sajewski, and Silva Santa.

Day One Recap
Lindenwood jumped out to a six-point lead after the first three events of the competition. The lone individual race was the 1,000 free which Igor Mijatovic won in a time of 9:19.17. He beat out runner-up and teammate Sylwester Borowicz-Skoneczny by over three seconds.

In the 200 medley relay, the team of Paknys, Pacholczyk, Sajewski, and Akmentins won in a time of 1:29.72. Lindenwood trailed the whole race before Akmentins made up time on the final leg and touched the wall 0.09 seconds before Delta State's final swimmer.

The final relay of the day, the 800 free, also saw Lindenwood trailing for much of the race. The relay was nearly tied after three legs before Paknys pulled away on the anchor leg and helped the Lions win a time of 6:36.49, nearly four seconds faster than Delta State's team. The other members of that relay were Silva Santa, Akmentins, and Friedhoff.

Day Two Recap
Lindenwood extended its lead to 45 points after outscoring Delta State by 39 points during the second day of competition.

The Lions earned their first points when it went one-two in the three-meter diving events. Cochran won the competition with a mark of 503.95, and Schyler Hohenberger was second with a time of 497.45.

Lindenwood also went one-two in the 500 free race and had four of the top seven finishers. Silva Santa won the race with a time of 4:27.61, less than two seconds faster than runner-up Borowicz-Skoneczny. Igor Mijatovic was fourth and Felix Eigel was seventh in the A-finals. Also scoring for Lindenwood was Victor Munoz in 13th and Ilan Brunfman in 14th.

In the 200 IM, the Lions were led by Paknys who was second with a time of 1:50.26. Pacholczyk came in fifth and Arturs Plots was sixth. In the B-Finals, Joseph Martin came in ninth, Potkonjak was 13th, and Sajewski was 16th.

In the fastest event of the competition, four Lions scored in the 50 free. Akmentins led the team by finishing third with a time of 20.69. Friedhoff tied for fourth and Parker King was seventh. Carlos Cabral Xavier rounded out the scoring by coming in 14th.

The final event of the day was the 200 free relay. The Lions touched the wall less than two seconds behind champion Delta State and they were second overall. That team was made up of Akmentins, Friedhoff, Silva Santa, and King.

Day Three Recap
Lindenwood won three of the six events in the third day of the competition. The Lions dropped a few points to Delta State on the day, but still held a comfortable 37 point lead at the end of the day.

In the 400 IM, Eigel took first place with a time of 3:55.81, nearly four seconds ahead of the runner-up. The Lions also won the B-race with Martin having the fastest time in that heat.

In the 100 fly, Sajewski finished fourth overall and had the highest finish on the team. Akmentins came in fifth, Bernard was 10^th, Brunfman was 11^th, and Cabral Xavier was 16^th.

Delta State was just seven points behind after the 100 fly but Lindenwood righted the ship after that, starting with the 200 free. Silva Santa led the way by winning the race in a time of 1:38.90. Friedhoff was third and King was ninth.

The team's winning streak continued in the 100 breast which Pacholczyk won with a time of 54.22. Plots was fourth in the event by just 0.06 seconds over the fifth-place finisher.

In the 100 back, Lindenwood placed three swimmers in the A-finals. Paknys led the way with a second-place finish, followed by Potkonjak in fourth and Bernard in eighth.

The lone relay on the day was the 400 medley race. Lindenwood's top team of Paknys, Pacholczyk, Sajewski, and Akmentins finished second with a time of 3:17.09.

Day Four Recap
Lindenwood led wire-to-wire after finishing off its victory on day four of the competition.

Cochran made a sweep of the diving events after winning the one-meter dive with a mark of 502.70. Schyler Hohenberger was third in the event with a score of 464.35.

Mijatovic won another distance free event by taking the 1,650 free race in a time of 15:38.58. Silva Santa was runner-up and Borowicz-Skoneczny was sixth in the event.

In the 200 back, Eigel and Paknys finished second and third, respectively. Eigel had a time of 1:48.68 and Paknys was 0.70 seconds behind. In the B-finals Potkonjak was ninth.

Lindenwood also had two of the top three spots in the 100 free. Akmentins was second and Friedhoff was third, both coming in under 46 seconds. King was 13^th overall in the race.

Pacholczyk made a sweep of the breaststrokes by winning the 200 breast in a time of 1:58.54. Plots came in fourth and Martin was ninth in that race.

In the final individual race, Brunfman led Lindenwood with a second-place finish with a time of 1:50.80. Other Lions to score were Munoz in third, Sajewski in fifth, Cabral Xavier in ninth, and Bernard in 12^th.

The icing on the cake was Lindenwood winning the final race, the 400 free relay. The Lions led from start to finish as it finished with a time of 3:00.12. That team consisted of Akmentins, Silva Santa, Friedhoff, and Paknys.