WEBSTER, NY: The SUNY Geneseo men's swimming & diving team was crowned Empire 8 Champions this evening after an incredible 4-day performance by the Knights. Geneseo controlled the podium, totaling 1186 points for first place and their 12^th straight conference title. Alex Palmer and Greg Meder were named the Swimmer and Diver of the Meet, with Geneseo coaches Paul Dotterwiech, Noah Farmer and Shaun Austin taking home the award for Coaching Staff of the Meet. staff taking home the award for Coaching Staff of the Meet. Alex Palmer was named the 2026 Torchbearer, which honors the athlete with the highest cumulative GPA between the top two teams.


DAY 1:
Colin Babbitt took third place in the 500-yard freestyle with his time of 4:42.22, while Oliver Lutz came in right behind him for fourth place with a time of 4:48.61. in the 200 IM, Alex Palmer came up big with his first-place finish, touching at 1:49.57, breaking an Empire 8 conference record, and setting an NCAA B cut time. Connor Baird followed a second later, taking second place with his time of 1:50.84. The 50-yard free had an unprecedented final, with all eight spots taken by Geneseo athletes. All eight Knights finished with .4 seconds of each other, with Brian Pabisch leading the way with a time of 20.46. Dylan Gallub and Nick Lemmo rounded out the top three, touching at 20.74 and 20.86. In the 3-meter dive, Greg Meder took first place, scoring 601.70 points over 11 dives, followed by Nathan Davey in third with a score of 519.45. The 400-yard IM medley relay team of Gallub, Palmer, Baird and Jake Nielsen rounded out the meet, finishing on top with a time of 3:20.51, marking a new championship record, which was previously set by Geneseo last year.

DAY 2:
Dylan Gallub kicked things off for the men in the 200-yard free, taking the top spot with a time of 1:41.76, edging out his competitor by .01. In the 100-yard butterfly, Jack Keene finished in first, touching at 49.43, followed by Brian Pabisch in second at 49.66. in the 400-yard IM, Connor Baird and Oliver Lutz finished in second and third, finishing at 4:02.51 and 4:13.50 respectively. The 200-yard freestyle relay team held strong in the final race of day 2, with Pabiisch, Nielsen, Peyser and Gallub taking first place with their time of 1:21.62.

Day 3:
The 200-yard medley relay team of Gallub, Pabisch, Palmer and Nielsen set a new championship record with their first place finish this evening, touching at 1:29.85. Connor Baird and Jack Keene continued the win streak in the 200-yard butterfly, finishing at 1:51.04 and 1:53.04. In the 100-yard backstroke Alex Trzaskowski and Chris Varrichico took second and third with only .36 of a second separating them: 51.37 and 51.73. Alex Palmer had a huge performance in the 100-yard breaststroke, taking first place with a time of 54.30, setting a new championship record and a NCAA B cut qualifying time, followed by Jake Nielsen (55.57) and Petery Peyser (65.16) in second and third. Greg Meder was named the Empire 8 champion in the 1-meter dive, scoring 548.60 points, while Cameron Corona took third with a score of 467.25. Nick Lemmo, Casey Connors, Gannon Moore and Peter Peyser made up the winning 800-yard free relay team, touching at 6:53.74 for first place.
 
DAY 4:
The men remained dominate through the final day of the Empire 8 Championships. Colin Babbitt took third place in the 1650-yard freestyle with a final time of 16:28.64. The Knights swept the 100-yard freestyle, with all eight spots in finals being Geneseo athletes. Brian Pabisch Took first place with his time of 45.59, followed by Dylan Gallub and Matthew Pinzon Pacheco in second and third with times of 46.19 and 46.48.  Edmund Wilson and Chris Varrichico landed in second and third in the 200-yard backstroke, with Wilson touching at 1:52.38 followed by Varrichico at 1:53.94. Alex Palmer came away with yet another championship record in the 200-yard breaststroke, taking first place with a time of 1:59.47 and a NCAA B cut time. The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Pabisch, Nielsen, Peyser and Gallub capped off a great weekend with their winning time of 3:02.33.