CLEVELAND, Ohio – Gannon University men's swimming and diving wrapped up a terrific three days at the 2022 Magnus Cup with another pair of school-record swims from Malachi Boyle (Knoxville, Tn./Home Life Academy) (2:01.62 in the 200 breaststroke) and the 400 freestyle relay quartet of Justin Decheck (Plum, Pa./Plum), Will Moses (Avon Lake, Ohio/Avon Lake), Joey Decheck (Plum, Pa./Plum), and Stephen McCallum (Cape Town, South Africa/Wynberg Boys') (3:01.99). The Golden Knights set two records each day of the meet—including new standards from Will Retsch (Allison Park, Pa./Hampton) in the 200 IM and Boyle in the 500 free on day one—as well as Aidar Sataev (Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan/Forest Hill) (100 breaststroke) and McCallum (200 free) on day two.
 
The Golden Knights logged six NCAA "B" qualifying times throughout the entirety of the meet, with McCallum's Saturday swim in the 200 free prelims (44.97) joining those ranks and earning the top seed in the event. He would later lower the time in the finals to a 44.79 with a VICTORY in the event and is rapidly approaching the school record of 44.68 set by Brent Benedict in 2019-20.
 
Also impressive was the team's collective effort in the team standings, accruing 740.5 and locking up third place behind two Division 1 programs in first-place Xavier (1,076 points) and host Cleveland State (896.5.) The Knights finished last year's Magnus Cup in fourth place overall out of seven total teams, while competing this year against 10 teams.
 
Boyle's day began in a very fast 200 breaststroke prelim, where his school-record 2:01.62 was joined by sophomore Aidar Sataev's (Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan/Forest Hill) 2:02.39—with both times solidly under the previous record of 2:04.83 by Brett Lindenmuth that had stood since the 1996-97 season. Boyle finished in seventh place in the evening session's "A" final while Sataev claimed fifth place.
 
The 400 freestyle relay team (Ju. Decheck, Moses, Jo. Decheck, and McCallum) logged a 3:01.99 and a third-place finish in the event, besting the previous Golden Knight mark of 3:20.55 set back in 2020-21, which McCallum also swam.

Andrew Beyer (Warren, Pa./Warren Area) qualified for the "A" final in the 200 backstroke and finished 10^th with a time of 1:53.37. The event was a good one for the Golden Knights, with Seth Butler (Maineville, Oh./Little Miami) winning the "B" final (time of 1:52.66) in front of Will Retsch (Allison Park, Pa./Hampton) (13^th, 1:54.71), and Kaleb Lombard (Graaff-Reinet, South Africa/Grey College) (15^th, 1:54.95.) Jacob Baum (North East, Pa./Cathedral Preparatory) rounded out the night with a victory in the "C" final in 1:56.57.
 
Justin Decheck (Plum, Pa./Plum) joined McCallum in the "A" final of the 100 free and came home in ninth place (46.32.) Joey Decheck (Plum, Pa./Plum) was not too far behind, finishing 18^th with a 46.64.
 
Four Gannon swimmers competed in the "B" final of the 200 butterfly: Kaleb Lombard (Graaff-Reinet, South Africa/Grey College) (12^th, 1:53.11), Hiyan Kubagawa (Sao Paulo, Brazil/) (14^th, 1:53.82), David Gallion (Arlington, Va./Homeschooled) (15^th, 1:54.03), and Retsch (18^th, 1:54.95.)
 
Ryan Barclay (Knoxville, TN/Bearden) also put in an admirable effort in the 1650 free, earning 11^th place with a 16:16.47.
 
The Golden Knights return home and now prepare for a home meet versus Indiana (Pa.) on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 12:00 p.m. Also stay tuned next week for a comprehensive look at all of Gannon's men's PSAC qualifying times achieved thus far in the 2022-23 season.