KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - For the First time in school history, Queens University was crowned Division I Conference Champions as the Royals tallied 933.5 points to claim the 2023 CCSA Men's Swimming & Diving Championships at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center in Knoxville, Tenn. The Royals won 17 events while breaking 10 meet records over the four-day competition. Florida Atlantic took the Runner-Up trophy with 795.0 total points and three event wins behind Brandon Shepherd's diving and Rateb Hussein winning the 100-Yard Butterfly. Old Dominion (466.0), Gardner-Webb (443.5) and Bellarmine (301.0) rounded out the team standings.
Championship Saturday featured all five event wins by the Royals including two sweeps in the 200-Yard Backstroke and 200-Yard Breaststroke. Matej Dusa set a meet record with a gold medal time of 42.78 in the 100-Yard Butterfly and the Royals set their fifth relay record of the week with a 2:53.31 in the final event, the 400-Freestyle Relay.
Alex Kunert tallied 60 points earning victories in the 200-Yard Freestyle, 200-Yard Butterfly and 200-Yard IM events to be named Most Outstanding Men's Swimming Performer of the Championship. The Owls' Brandon Shepherd earned Most Outstanding Men's Diver of the Championship after sweeping the 1-Meter and 3-Meter competitions and Queens' Daniel Mezaros earned Most Outstanding Freshman of the Championship, leading all freshman competitors with 48 total points.
Queens' Jeff Dugdale was selected as the 2023 Coach of the Year by his fellow head coaches around the league while FAU's Alik Sarkisian earned Diving Coach of the Year honors.
Final Team Scores
| Place | Team | Points |
| 1 | Queens | 933.5 |
| 2 | Florida Atlantic | 795.0 |
| 3 | Old Dominion | 466.0 |
| 4 | Gardner-Webb | 443.5 |
| 5 | Bellarmine | 301.0 |
CCSA Men's Championship Meet Records Broken
Queens - 200-Yard Medley Relay (1:25.39)
Matej Dusa, Queens - 50-Yard Freestyle (19.20)
Queens - 200-Yard Freestyle Relay (1:17.57)
Alex Kunert, Queens - 200-Yard Freestyle (1:34.02)
Queens - 400-Yard Medley Relay (3:08.47)
Queens - 800-Yard Freestyle Relay (6:24.43)
Alexander Bauch, Queens - 100-Yard Backstroke (46.04)
Alex Kunert, Queens - 200-Yard Butterfly (1:42.34)
Matej Dusa, Queens - 100-Yard Freestyle (42.78)
Queens - 400 Freestyle Relay (2:53.31)
CCSA Championship Event Winners
1,650-Yard Freestyle
2023 Champion: Luke Erwee, Queens (15:27.01)
Next Two Finishers: Logan Thornsberry, Florida Atlantic (15:31.42) | Sam Jones, Bellarmine (15:45.99)
Event Note: Erwee captured his second individual gold medal of the Championships, leading wire-to-wire to finish four seconds faster than silver medalist Thonrsberry
100-Yard Freestyle
2023 Champion: Matej Dusa, Queens (42.78)
Next Two Finishers: Daniel Meszaros, Queens (43.10) | Rateb Hussein, Florida Atlantic (44.02)
Event Note: Dusa broke his second conference and meet record of the Championships as he and teammate Meszaros raced to NCAA 'B' standard times
200-Yard Backstroke
2023 Champion: Andreas Marz, Queens (1:43.98)
Next Two Finishers: Alexander Bauch, Queens (1:46.24) | Yannick Plasil, Queens (1:47.65)
Event Note: Queens earned its third event sweep of the Championship as Marz picks up his first individual title and finished with a B-cut time
200-Yard Breaststroke
2023 Champion: Noah Beladi, Queens (1:56.32)
Next Two Finishers: Jan Delkeskamp, Queens (1:57.01) | Declan Gleason, Queens (1:57.63)
Event Note: All three Royals' podium finishers reached NCAA B-cut times in the second event sweep of Saturday night
400-Yard Freestyle Relay
2023 Champion: Queens (2:53.31)
Next Two Finishers: Florida Atlantic (2:56.28) | Old Dominion (2:59.76)
Event Note: Queens made it 5-for-5 in relay titles and set new conference and meet records in all five events during the week
800-Yard Freestyle Relay
2023 Champion: Queens (6:24.43)
Next Two Finishers: Florida Atlantic (6:32.57) | Old Dominion (6:39.78)
Event Note: Queens continued to have a strong relay showing in the championship with its fourth conference and championship meet record to begin day three
1-Meter Diving
2023 Champion: Brandon Shepherd, Florida Atlantic (336.30)
Next Two Finishers: Ethan Crim, Florida Atlantic (250.45) | Bennett Balogh, Florida Atlantic (128.05)
Event Note: Shepherd scored the ninth-best championship score in the event leading his teammates to the Owls' second Diving event sweep of the week
100-Yard Backstroke
2023 Champion: Alexander Bauch, Queens (46.36)
Next Two Finishers: Finn Howard, Queens (47.63) | Andreas Marz, Queens (48.17)
Event Note: Queens continued to dominate in the pool earning its first event sweep of the championship after Bauch recorded a meet record time of 46.04 in the morning session
100-Yard Breaststroke
2023 Champion: Jan Delkeskamp, Queens (53.23)
Next Two Finishers: Balazs Berecz, Queens (53.67) | Noah Beladi, Queens (53.67)
Event Note: Queens swept the second-straight event of the night while FAU's Dalton Lillibridge (53.78) joined the three podium finishers to reach 'B' cut times
200-Yard Butterfly
2023 Champion: Alex Kunert, Queens (1:42.34)
Next Two Finishers: Rateb Hussein, Florida Atlantic (1:44.15) | Yannick Plasil, Queens (1:45.06)
Event Note: Kunert grabbed his second conference and meet record of the championship with a B-cut time of 1:42.34 to beat out 2022 Champion Rateb Hussein; all three podium finishers earn B-cut times
200-Yard Freestyle Relay
2023 Champion: Queens (1:17.57)
Next Two Finishers: Florida Atlantic (1:19.98) | Gardner-Webb (1:20.74)
Event Note: Queens earned its second Relay gold medal of the championship with a new conference and meet record with a 'B' qualifying time of 1:17.57, besting a nine-year record held by Incarnate Word (2014)
100-Yard Butterfly
2023 Champion: Rateb Hussein, Florida Atlantic (46.81)
Next Two Finishers: Jacob Dray, Bellarmine (47.44) | Alexander Bauch, Queens (47.44)
Event Note: Hussein captured his second consecutive 100-Yard Butterfly title with a 46.81; 0.26 seconds faster than his first title last season
400-Yard Individual Medley
2023 Champion: Jan Delkeskamp, Queens (3:47.81)
Next Two Finishers: Nick Shaffer, FAU (3:48.79) | Yannick Plasil, Queens (3:50.56
Event Note: All three medalists reached NCAA 'B' standards as Delkeskamp adds to the Royals gold collection and Shaffer adds his second-straight silver in the event
200-Yard Freestyle
2023 Champion: Alex Kunert, Queens (1:34.02)
Next Two Finishers: Noah Wilkins, Old Dominion (1:36.31) | Luke Erwee, Queens (1:36.33)
Event Note: Kunert became the fourth Royal to break a meet record and conference record that was set in the prelims earlier in the day by teammate Daniel Meszaros who finished fourth
400-Yard Medley Relay
2023 Champion: Queens (3:08.47)
Next Two Finishers: Florida Atlantic (3:13.82) | Gardner-Webb (3:15.90)
Event Note: Queens made it 3-for-3 in broken relay records with a time of 3:08.47 improving on their previous record of 3:09.68 set earlier in the prelims
200-Yard Medley Relay
2023 Champion: Queens (1:25.39)
Next Two Finishers: Gardner-Webb (1:27.17) | Florida Atlantic (1:27.66)
Event Note: The Royals broke a championship record in the first finals race of the 2023 event, besting Gardner-Webb's 1:27.25 record set last season
3M Diving
2023 Champion: Brandon Shepherd, Florida Atlantic (300.55)
Next Finisher: Ethan Crim, Florida Atlantic (229.75)
Event Note: Florida Atlantic was guaranteed to earn its fourth event title and first since 2021 as Brandon Shepherd edged out teammate Ethan Crim with a winning score of 300.55
500-Yard Freestyle
2023 Champion: Luke Erwee, Queens (4:24.03)
Next Two Finishers: Logan Thornsberry, Florida Atlantic (4:27.82) | Matt Shanahan, Queens (4:29.16)
Event Note: Erwee picked up his second gold medal of the night besting his qualifying time by almost 2.5 seconds to stand atop the podium as the Royals' first DI individual event champion
200-Yard Individual Medley
2023 Champion: Alex Kunert, Queens (1:44.67)
Next Two Finishers: Balazs Berecz, Queens (1:46.15) | Nick Shaffer, Florida Atlantic (1:46.82)
Event Note: FAU's Alec Peckmann's three-peat was denied, finishing fourth in the event while Queen's Alex Kunert claimed the second Men's individual title of the evening
50-Yard Freestyle
2023 Champion: Matej Dusa, Queens (19.20)
Next Two Finishers: Brady Fields, Gardner-Webb (19.92) | Daniel Meszaros, Queens (19.94)
Event Note: Dusa obliterated the previous meet record in a blistering 19.20 time to make the NCAA 'B' cut and was just .06 from tying his conference record set earlier this season
The Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) is a progressive NCAA Division I conference dedicated to the enhancement of opportunities for students. The conference was founded in 2008 to provide a championship opportunity for Swimming and Diving student-athletes and extended that opportunity with the addition of Beach Volleyball in the summer of 2015. The league's footprint extends into several states: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. The CCSA is dedicated to the student-athletes who compete in its championships and their success in the classroom, in the field of competition, and life after graduation.