GANNON MEN'S SWIMMING SEASON PREVIEW
 
ERIE, Pa. – The Gannon men's swimming team will have a new coach and a significant number of returnees when the Golden Knights open their 2024-25 season this week.

 

Milan Medo was hired as Gannon's head coach in June after serving as the head coach at the former Notre Dame College. Before his one-year stint at Notre Dame, Medo coached as an assistant at Grand Valley State University (August 2015-May 2017), a graduate assistant at the University of Findlay (August 2017-July 2019), and an assistant coach at Penn State Behrend (August 2019-July 2020).
 
He will guide a Gannon swimming program that is coming off a solid 2023-24 season and returns several All-PSAC performers.
 
Medo will lead the Knights into their season opener on Friday at 5 p.m. at Clarion University. He will coach Gannon in its home opener one week later on Friday, Oct. 25, at 5 p.m. at Carneval Athletic Pavilion Pool.
 
"Honestly, it was very, very smooth," Medo said of the transition with the men's and women's programs over the summer. "The team captains of Connor (Hebert), Ryan (Braclay), Chenay (Date Line) and Lily (Cunningham) were a tremendous help. … I could tell that there's a lot of positivity on the team, and they're going to be really excited for the season ahead."
 
"I think the transition has been really easy," said co-captain Connor Hebert (Damascus, Md./Damascus). "Coach Milan is super easy to talk to, and he's very enthusiastic about swimming. He makes practice really, really fun, and he makes all of us excited to come here and compete."
 
Gannon, which has paused its diving program, has many talented swimmers returning to the men's program. Among the top returnees are Malachi Boyle (Knoxville, Tenn./Home Life Academy), Will Retsch (Allison Park, Pa./Hampton), Aidar Sataev (Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan/Forest Hill), Ben Williams (Findlay, Ohio/Findlay), and Hiyan Kubagawa (Sao Paulo, Brazil/), in addition to co-captains Hebert and Ryan Barclay (Knoxville, Tenn./Bearden).
 
Boyle and Sataev were members of Gannon's third-place All-PSAC 400-yard medley relay (3:20.22) in 2023-24, and both earned All-PSAC status in the 200 breaststroke. Boyle set a Gannon record in the 200 breast while placing second in a time of 1:59.47. Sataev finished third in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:01.04.
 
Retsch also swam a leg on the 400-medley relay, and he earned All-PSAC honors while helping the 200 medley relay team finish second. Retsch also narrowly missed All-PSAC honors by finishing fourth in the 200 backstroke in 1:51.42
 
Barclay is back after being named the PSAC Champion Scholar for men's swimming and diving in 2023-24.
 
"It's been going very smoothly," Barclay said. "Coach Milan, he's communicated very well with us and set his expectations of what he wants for the season. Everyone has come back ready to train, and I'm really excited to see where this season we can go together."
 
"I think our expectations are really high," Hebert said. "We got three new transfers and a bunch of freshmen who I think are some of our fastest ever. Our returners are also very excited to be back here and racing. I think we're going to have a very good season ahead of us."
 
"Our upperclassmen were incredible in welcoming the newcomers this year," Medo said. "We have a great group of freshmen joining the team and also a few transfer students, and everyone seems to be working very well together."
 
Medo is eager to see his team in the pool for the season opener and beyond.
 
"I believe it's going to be a very exciting year," Medo said. "There's a lot of talent on this team. Some of the upperclassmen and a lot of the newcomers I believe will be very close to breaking records in many events."
 
 
2023-24 SEASON RECAP
 
The Golden Knights closed the 2023-24 season with a 4-2 overall record and went 2-1 in dual meets against PSAC opponents. Gannon defeated Clarion (155-145) and Edinboro (154-71) while absorbing its only loss against IUP (152-141).  The Gannon men placed fourth out of seven teams in the 2024 PSAC Swimming Championships with 464.5 points. The Knights finished behind West Chester (990), Clarion (572), and Bloomsburg (472.5).


MEN'S SWIMMING AT A GLANCE:
 
Head Coach: Milan Medo
2024-25 Team Captains – Ryan Barclay (Knoxville, Tenn./Bearden) and Connor Hebert (Damascus, Md./Damascus)
Season Opener: Friday, Oct. 18, at Clarion | 5 p.m. | Waldo S. Tippin Natatorium, Clarion, Pa.
Home Opener: Friday, Oct. 25, vs. Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) | 5 p.m. | Carneval Athletic Pavilion Pool
PSAC Championships: February 17-20 | Graham Aquatics Center - York, Pa.
 

RETURNEES TO WATCH:

Malachi Boyle (Knoxville, Tenn./Home Life Academy) | Junior | Breaststroke/Freestyle
Will Retsch (Allison Park, Pa./Hampton) | Junior | IM/Backstroke
Aidar Sataev (Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan/Forest Hill) | Senior | Breaststroke/Butterfly
Ben Williams (Findlay, Ohio/Findlay) | Junior | Freestyle
Hiyan Kubagawa (Sao Paulo, Brazil/) | Senior | Butterfly/Breaststroke
 

NEWCOMERS TO WATCH:

Kuba Loboda (Lublin, Poland) |  Sophomore/Transfer Student | Sprint Freestyle/Butterfly
Nikita Pau Poparcea Greiter | Freshman | Sprint Freestyle/Backstroke
Bryce Burét | Freshman | Sprint Freestyle/Backstroke
Jordan Denyer (Port Elizabeth, South Africa/Grey) | Freshman | Breaststroke/Freestyle


2024-25 SCHEDULE PREVIEW:

Gannon will host three meets inside Carneval Athletic Pavilion Pool, while traveling to four meets this 2024-25 campaign. The Golden Knights open their season on Friday, October 18, traveling to PSAC opponent Clarion. The meet is scheduled at 5 p.m. inside Waldo S. Tippin Natatorium. Gannon will host Rochester of Technology (RIT) on Friday, October 25, with the home-opening meet scheduled for 5 p.m. The Golden Knights will host IUP in PSAC action on Saturday, November 9, at 1 p.m.

On November 21-23, Gannon will find themselves in Canton, Ohio for the Malone Invitational. The three-day event will take place in Branin Natatorium. Gannon visits Niagara on Thursday, January 16, at 1 p.m., and will host PSAC rival Edinboro for Senior Night on Friday, January 24, at 6 p.m. The regular season concludes on Saturday, January 25, at 1 p.m. at Ithaca College.

The PSAC Championships are set to take place on February 17-20, at Graham Aquatics Center in York, Pennsylvania.

 
 
SEASON OPENER:

GANNON GOLDEN KNIGHTS AT CLARION GOLDEN EAGLES
WHERE: Waldo S. Tippin Natatorium – Clarion, Pa.
WHEN: Friday, Oct. 18
LIVE VIDEO


COACHES:

Gannon: Milan Medo (first season)
Clarion: Brehan Kelley (ninth season)

The Gannon and Clarion men's teams met for the Golden Knights' home opener last October in a meet that came down to the final event. Gannon emerged with a 155-145 meet victory.

The Clarion men placed second the 2024 PSAC Championships, while the Gannon men finished fourth as a team.