The 2021 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Swimming and Diving Championships will take place this Wednesday (Feb. 17) through Saturday (Feb. 20) in Holland, Mich. at the Holland Community Aquatic Center.

MEN'S PREVIEW
On the men's side, WSU has finished either first or second in 18 of the last 20 years with two third-place finishes in 2018 and 2019.  The Warriors won nine GLIAC titles in an 12-year span from 2003 through 2014.

Head coach Sean Peters, who is in his 24th year guiding the WSU Swimming and Diving programs, is a 10-time GLIAC Men's Swimming Coach of the Year award winner (2002-03-04-05-06-07-09-11-13-14).

Leading this year squad's in terms of best times nationally is sophomore Luka Cvetko (Varazdin, Croatia), who is in the top-10 in the NCAA Division II rankings in the 50 free (19.98).  He is the defending GLIAC champion in the event. 

WSU had four of the top eight finishers in the 50 free in 2020, as redshirt junior Franz Mueller (Brandenburg, Germany) was fifth, junior Stewart Nowinski (Macomb, Mich. / L'Anse Creuse North) was seventh and senior Jack Rogers (Kalamazoo, Mich. / Portage Central) was eighth. 

Mueller was second in the 200 back, third in the 100 back and eighth in the 200 free.

Cvetko finished second in the 100 free, while Rogers was sixth.

Sophomore Hans Anderson (Livonia, Mich. / Stevenson) was sixth in the 100 breast, while junior Derek Wilson (Marysville) placed eighth.

Sophomore Matt Vassilakos (Clarkston, Mich.) was sixth in the 200 fly.

Both Muller and Anderson return from a 200 medley relay quartet that finished second a year ago.

Nowinski, Rogers and Cvetko all return from last season's 200 free relay championship group.

Mueller is the lone active returner from last season's champion 400 medley relay and third-place 800 free relay.

Cvetko, Rogers and Nowinski all return from last year's 400 free relay championship group.

Divers Andrew Ceely (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Skyline) and Grant Porter (Haslett, Mich.) finished seventh and eighth, respectively on the one-meter board in 2020.  On the three-meter board, Porter was fifth and Ceely placed eighth.

WOMEN'S PREVIEW
On the women's side, WSU has finished either first or second for the last 15 years.  The Warriors have won 11 GLIAC titles in that time span, including a NCAA Division II national title in 2012.

Head coach Sean Peters, who is in his 24th year guiding the WSU Swimming and Diving programs, is a 10-time GLIAC Women's Swimming Coach of the Year award winner (2006-07-08-10-11-12-14-15-16-18).

Top finishers returning from the 2020 championships include a trio of seniors.  Haley Groteler (Holland, Mich. / West Ottawa) was third in the 50 free and fifth in the 100 free, 100 fly and 200 fly; Jia Yi Koh (Subang Jaya, Malaysia) was third in the 200 free and fourth in the 200 IM; and Sophie Montesanti (Howell, Mich.) was fifth a year ago in both the 1000 free and 1650, while placing sixth in the 500 free.  Groteler is among the national leaders this season in the 100 fly at 56.89.

Senior Amanda Hurchalla (Mount Clemens, Mich. / Fraser) is the reigning GLIAC champion on the three-meter diving board, and finished third on the one-meter board in 2020.

Sophomore Maddy Chorley (Burton, Mich. / Davison) was fourth in the 100 back and sixth in the 200 back.  This season she was in the top-25 nationally in the 100 back with a time of 57.16.

Graduate student Allison Lennig (Canton, Mich. / Plymouth) was seventh at last year's championships in the 100 free.

Both Groteler and Koh return from last year's first place 200 medley relay and 400 free relay, while Groteler is the only active returning swimmer from last year's 200 free relay championship quartet.  Koh is the lone active returner from last season's champion 400 medley relay and 800 free relay.