Valpo Swimming kicked off the 2022-23 season on Saturday afternoon with a dual meet at Southern Indiana, and the Beacon men emerged victorious in the season opener. The highlight of the day was the swimming of freshman Jackson Oostman (Aurora, Ill./Marmion Academy), who earned three individual event wins in his first collegiate meet.

How It Happened

• Oostman’s three event wins led the way as the Valpo men captured eight of 14 events over the course of the meet.
• Oostman kicked off his debut by posting a time of 1:00.60 in a winning performance in the 100 breast. He followed up with his top effort of the day, a winning time of 1:55.99 in the 200 back — tied for fifth-best in program history in the event.
• The rookie’s third win came in the 200 IM, as he touched the wall in 1:57.50. He closed the meet by anchoring Valpo’s winning 400 free relay, which won the event in 3:17.02 — Oostman finished out the Beacon quartet of Dathan Wolf (Columbus, Ind./Columbus East), Anthony Martin (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) and Brian Daniels (Brookfield, Wis./Brookfield East).
• Oostman was far from the only Valpo freshman to stand out as the men’s team prevailed over the Eagles, as four different rookies earned individual event wins in their collegiate debuts.
• Freshman Ricky Helmboldt (Tucson, Ariz./Arizona Connections Academy) led a 1-2-3-4 finish for Valpo in the 1000 free, posting a time of 10:17.47. It was a 1-2-3 finish for Valpo in the 200 fly, headed by Tim Mai (St. Johns, Fla./Creekside) and his time of 2:01.65, while Garrett Hoppman (Midland, Texas/Midland) took top honors in the 100 fly as he came home in 53.23.
• Sophomore Andrew Berzai (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian) rounded out Valpo’s event wins on the men’s side as he topped the field in the 200 breast with a time of 2:14.93. Berzai led a 1-2-3 finish for the Beacons in that event.
• On the women’s side, sophomore Sara Strauss (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake) picked up an individual victory in the 100 free as she posted a time of 56.28. Strauss also led off Valpo’s 400 free relay — which also included Emma Schmidt (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley), Haley Hume (Ballwin, Mo./Marquette) and Dot Chislett (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) — as the Beacons closed out the meet by winning that event, coming home in 3:46.78.
• The Valpo men earned the meet win by a final score of 156-124, while the women’s final was 188-92 in favor of USI.

About the Meet

• Saturday’s meet was the first intercollegiate meet for the Southern Indiana men’s and women’s swimming programs.
• Valpo head coach Maggie Kroemer was a graduate assistant for the University of Texas Permian Basin swim program for two seasons (2007-09) when USI head coach Cameron Kainer was a member of the Falcons’ roster.

Next Up

Valpo makes its home debut this season at the Valparaiso Aquatics Center on Friday, Oct. 14 as the Beacons host Evansville. The meet is scheduled for a 5 p.m. start.