UW-Oshkosh's last event of the abbreviated 2021 men's swimming & diving season was a record-breaking performance as Alex Jernberg, Jarrett Lieder, Robert Thomasberg and Josiah Vandenberg established a new school 800-yard freestyle relay standard during the Titans' 199-86 loss to UW-Eau Claire on Saturday (Feb. 27) in Albee Hall.
Jernberg, Lieder, Thomasberg and Vandenberg combined for a winning time of 7:07.38 in Saturday's 16th and final event to break the previous school record of 7:08.79 set by Jernberg, Lieder, Vandenberg and Jack Miller at the Carthage College Classic held December 5, 2019.
UW-Oshkosh won three other events against the Blugolds, including the 200-yard butterfly where Vandenberg registered a time of 2:01.99. Vandenberg also finished second in the 100-yard butterfly with a swim of 53.66 seconds while joining Lieder, Vandenberg and David Bain for a second-place time of 3:36.91 in the 400-yard medley relay.
Other event winners for the Titans were Lieder and Thomasberg. Lieder won the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 16:44.23 and Thomasberg the 200-yard freestyle with a pace of 1:47.27. Thomasberg additionally placed third in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 53.76 seconds.
UW-Oshkosh's Bain and Jernberg contributed a second- and third-place finish apiece. Bain took second in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 56.22 seconds and third in the 200-yard backstroke at 2:09.58 while Jernberg ranked second in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:54.28 and third in the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:01.92.
The Titans also had Brennan Hoem finish second in the 100- and Cody Else third in the 1,650-yard freestyles with times of 49.36 seconds and 18:40.27, respectively, and Andrew Copeland third in the 200-yard breaststroke with a swim of 2:27.07.
Matt Holst earned two of UW-Oshkosh's five fourth-place finishes with his times of 2:45.29 in the 200-yard breaststroke and 22:21.37 in the 1,650-yard freestyle.
Other Titans finishing fourth were Copeland in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 23.22 seconds, Else in the 500-yard freestyle with a performance of 5:31.10 and Jarod Falk in the 100-yard freestyle with an effort of 1:06.22.
Lieder, a senior, is the owner of eight UW-Oshkosh records, including individual marks in the 200-yard freestyle (1:42.81), 500-yard freestyle (4:34.49), 1,000-yard freestyle (9:51.55), 1,650-yard freestyle (16:15.46) and 400-yard individual medley (4:12.96). He is a member of school relay records in the 200-yard freestyle (1:25.85), 400-yard freestyle (3:12.48) and 800-yard freestyle (7:07.38).
Bain, the other senior on this year's UW-Oshkosh team, is the school record holder in the 200-yard backstroke (1:59.29).
Postmeet Interview (Billy Piotrowski) With UW-Oshkosh Head Men's Swimming & Diving Coach Christopher Culp
Photo by Steve Frommell, UW-Oshkosh Athletics
