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Swimming & Diving

Swim & Dive Breaks Three Records in Sweep of the Don Kimble Invitational

Swim & Dive Breaks Three Records in Sweep of the Don Kimble Invitational
Posted: Nov 23, 2025

KENTWOOD, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University swimming and diving program delivered its most complete performance of the season at the three-day Don Kimble Invitational this past weekend, with both the men's and women's teams winning the overall championship and two program records falling during the meet.

The women took first out of eight teams with 869 points, defeating Hillsdale, Davenport, Ashland, Quincy, Olivet Nazarene, Aquinas, and Lake Superior State. The men swam against the same opponents minus Hillsdale, taking first out of seven team with 1134 points.

Program Records:

SVSU's women smashed the school record in the 800-yard freestyle relay by over seven seconds. Carolina Bononi Heinz, Lexi Hieber, Ella DesJean, and Andrea Bustos finished the event with a time of 7:33.28, surpassing the time of 7:40.49 from last year.

The Cardinals' men set the program record in the 400-yard medley relay by a fraction of a second. Hadyn Gould, Alp Hacioglu, Alvaro Rodriguez, and Lyon Hall finished the event with a time of 3:15.61, beating the mark of 3:15.97 from 2023 by 0.36 seconds.

Bononi Heinz also rebroke her 200 free record, finishing the event with a mark of 1:50.00.

Women's Meet Highlights:

The Cardinals showcased elite depth and sprint strength across all three days:

  • Bononi Heinz swept the sprint freestyle finals, winning the 100 free (51.74) and the 50 free (23.90)
  • Hieber scored major points in the distance events, delivering top-three finishes in both the 1650 (17:17.20) and 500 free (5:01.42).
  • Mya Ketel and Kaylene Darbee placed two inside the top five of the 200 breaststroke with Ketel taking second (2:24.49) and Darbee taking fifth (2:27.90).
  • Layla Winklepleck took second and third in the dives, finishing second in the 1 meter dives (355.10) and third in the 3 meter dives (362.65).

Relays were a major factor all weekend, with SVSU finishing top-two in every women's relay across the three days, capped by the program-record 800 free relay.

Men's Meet Highlights:

SVSU's men dominated the meet with power events, big relays, and distance control:

  • Gould took home gold in four events with the 100 back (48.19), the 200 back (1:49.95), the 100 fly (48.57), and the 200 IM (1:49.45) with all but the 100 back being personal bests.
  • William Hsiao performed well in the distance events taking second in the 1650 free (15:49.93) and winning the 500 free (4:29.97).
  • Álmos Szedlák took second in the 100 free (45.10) with a personal best and a DII B cut time.
  • Isaac deVries placed first in the 200 free (1:38.88) by a hair, finishing 0.03 seconds ahead of second place.

Up Next: Saginaw Valley swim and dive is off for over a month as the Cardinals return at home on Friday, January 9 to host Lake Superior State at 5:00 PM. The Cardinals and Lakers swim the next day with Ashland and Hillsdale at 1:00 PM with both events at the Gerstacker Regional Aquatic Center. The quad-meet on Saturday, January 10 is also Senior Day.