GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Florida Southern College men's swimming team finished the 2022 NCAA Division II Swimming & Diving National Championship in fifth place as a team with 225 points, the top Sunshine State Conference school at the championships.

"This meet can be really grueling and I couldn't  be more proud of how our team responded," said head coach Andy Robins. "We capped off the meet with several great finals swims tonight, including a record breaking relay with Matteo, Brandon, Elder, and Kyle. Coming off an SSC championship, we felt that a top 5 finish at the NCAA Championships was a realistic goal for our men's team. This was a great way to finish off a tremendous season!"
 
Queens University was named the top men's team with a total of 607.5 points, with Drury in second with 522 points. The University of Indianapolis finished third with 413 points, with McKendree in fourth and 310 points ahead of Florida Southern's fifth place position.
 
A day after earning the gold medal in the 100 yard breaststroke, Ludovico Viberti swam to National Runner-Up honors in the 200 yard breaststroke in a time of 1:55.49. Viberti qualified for the national finals with a time of 1:55.55. In the finals race, he was sitting in positions second and third for a majority of the race and pushed for the lead heading into the final stretch. Viberti narrowly missed the national title by two-one-hundredths of a second (1:55.47).
 
In the 200 breaststroke consolation race, Matteo Zampese won the heat with a time of 1:56.57 after qualifying with a time of 1:57.99, and losing the swim-off with Jan Delkeskamp (Queens) for the finals race. Zampese closed the weekend with his Honorable Mention All-American honors. Ludwig Mueller joined Zampese in the consolation heat of the 200 breaststroke and finished third with a time of 1:58.98. Mueller qualified with a 1:58.74 in the Saturday morning in the preliminaries.
 
Brandon Dyck placed seventh in the 200 backstroke Saturday night in a time of 1:45.33 to claim All-American honors for the fifth time this weekend. In the preliminaries Saturday morning, Dyck notched a time of 1:45.32 to seal his trip to the finals. Kyle Micallef qualified for the consolation finals with a 43.53 morning time in the 100 yard freestyle, where he swam to Honorable Mention All-American honors with a time of 44.20, for 16^th place.
 
The 1650 free finals were completed over the morning and evening session, with two men for the Mocs competing which was highlighted by Oliveira who sat in second after the morning heats with a time of 15:31.37, a three second improvement from his entry time. After the evening heats, Oliveira finished ninth overall for an Honorable Mention All-American honor. Keith Peristeridis finished the mile in 16:13.64 for a 28th place finish.
 
To end the NCAA Swimming Championships, a team of Mocs featuring Dyck, Micallef, Elder Oliveira, Zampese finished the 400 free relay finals in fifth place and time of 2:55.01 and a new FSC record. Zampese finished his 100 leg in 43.26, followed by Dyck in 44.30. Oliveira had a great push in 44.59 as Micallef finished his portion in 42.86 and seal a fifth place spot in the relay and new school record.
 
Earlier today in the morning sessions, Micallef carried the momentum and set a new men's FSC record in the 100 free with a time of 43.53 and ninth place finish in prelims, good to compete in the consolation finals tonight. Dyck qualified for his A finals in the 200 back, as he finished with a time of 1:45.32, good for eighth in prelims. Viberti's run at the 200 breast began with the best time in the prelims with 1:55.55. Zampese tied for eighth place in prelims with a time of 1:57.99 and Mueller finished 11th with a time of 1:58.75 for both to make it to the consolation finals.
 
Over the course of the NCAA Championships, the Mocs set seven school records. The Mocs set a new FSC school record and Sunshine State Conference record in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:09.24. They qualified for the relay with an entry time of 3:10.43, which was set at the SSC Championships where the Mocs won first-place. Dyck led off the relay with a 100 back portion in 46.93 for Viberti to start his breaststroke round in 52.02. Zampese finished the butterfly in 47.08 as Micallef finished the last leg in a 43.21 time in freestyle. A team of Mocs featuring Dyck, Micallef, Oliveira, and Zampese finished the 400 free relay finals in fifth place and time of 2:55.01 for a new FSC record, including another new record for Zampese in the 100 free during the relay lead off with a time of 43.26. 
 
In the 100 breast prelims, Zampese broke an FSC school record with a time of 53.03, before Viberti broke the record for the first time in the next heat with a time of 52.80. In Viberti's national title finals run, he again broke the 100 breast record with a time of 52.35, shaving off 0.45 seconds from his earlier record.
 
The Mocs had a total of 33 All-American honors over the four-day championship, including 13 Honorable Mention All-American honors. Dyck led the men in All-American accolades with six total honors, with Micallef matching the feat with six of his own. Viberti brought home five All-American honors, including an NCAA National Championship in the 100 breaststroke. Zampese and Oliveira had five honors, with JJ Saslo competing in relays and picking up two. Milosz Mencel, Keith Peristeridis, Luka Prostran, and Mueller each finished with one Honorable Mention All-American accolade.
 
Competing in last year's NCAA Swimming Championships, the Mocs finished 10^th overall, with this year's fifth place finish the best for head coach Andy Robins and best NCAA finish since the 2018 season. The best finish by the men's team at the NCAA Championships was back-to-back Runner-Up finishes in 2013 and 2014. The last national champion from the men's team before this year's title by Viberti was in 2019 when Matthew Holmes retained his 400 IM title in back-to-back years.