SAN ANTONIO – The University of the Incarnate Word swim & dive team ended their first season under head coach Reed Robelot with their highest finish in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) in school history.
 
The Cards competed in eight different meets this season, five of those coming in the fall semester. With meets against tough local talent such as A&M, UNT, SMU, UTPB the Cards were prepared to race hard at midseason in their first meet outside of Texas in the Delta State Christmas Invitational.
 
While in Cleveland, Mississippi UIW broke five school records finishing the semester strong. Fabio Fasolo went 19.85 in the 50 free. Fernando Ruvalcaba Cruz broke the 100 and 200 back records going 47.45 and 1:43.14. Panos went a blazing 9:02.25 in the 1000 and 14:56 in the 1650. Those two swims, along with wins in the 400 IM and the 500, he earned Swimmer of the meet at the DSU Invitational. Belalal Zahran made his mark on the squad as a freshman, getting wins in the 1-meter and 3-meter dives and winning Male Diver of the meet.  
 
In the spring semester UIW had two meets in Texas, one against Trinity and one against Southwestern, to warm up for their second MPSF Championship in school history. At the championship meet the Cards took down three more school records. Fabio Fasolo went 43.28 in the 100 free. Fernando Ruvalcaba Cruz, Fabio Fasolo, Trevor Smith, and Amechi Nawaeze set a new standard in 200 medley going 1:27.25. The group of Mykyta Kolesnykov, Fabio Fasolo, Trevor Smith and Amechi Nawaeze narrowly overtook the Cardinal record in the 400 free going 2:55.04.
 
UIW racked up 10 top-three finishes at MPSF Championships five third-place, three second place, and two first-place finishes. These along with several other amazing swims helped push the men's team to a third-place finish.
 
The post season was kind to the Cardinals as UIW racked up numerous awards. Belal Zahran was named the MPSF Freshman of the Year and the Cardinals earned 11 all-conference and 35 all-academic awards.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
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Follow the team on Twitter @UIWSwimAndDive and on Instagram @uiwswimanddive.