Story by Sports Editor Mark Musgrave III

With a 4th place finish in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference this season, the Aquinas Men’s Swim team is showing so much young promise for the future. Captains Cesar Robles and Braden Augustine led the way to keep the development of the program on the right track. These Saints are doing the most as the only NAIA swim team in Michigan. They’ve grown from 12 swimmers to 35 in total between the Men and Women. 

After my interview with Coach Kristy Hepp, I was blown away by the process of which she recruits. She looks far beyond the athlete in the pool. She looks for the right person. The person who works hard in the classroom, has a positive spectrum of ability, and coaches themself instead of just listening to themself. And most importantly buying into the team culture of student athletes, unity, skills, goal-setting, and good character all serving a higher purpose. 

According to Hepp, the best examples of these standards are Luke Martin and Ian Clapp. Both of which are beast figures in the pool with provisional cut times. I could write on and on about the potential for this program, but for sake of space, look towards the next section for the records set by these 4 men and the rest of their team. Every school record for the Men’s team was set in this 2022-23 season. Without further ado, check out these times: