ELKHART, Ind. — Two Gyrenes made it to the B Final in each of their events as the Ave Maria Swim team competed in their second ever NAIA Swimming and Diving National Championships.

Gabby Darakchieva qualified for the B Final in the 100 yard backstroke, finishing 10^th of 33 swimmers in the preliminary races with a time of 57.73. In the B Final, which takes the ninth through 16^th swimmers from the prelims, Darakchieva finished 12^th with a similar time of 57.97.

Michael Blawas was the other Gyrene to qualify for a B Final, doing so in the 200 yard butterfly. Blawas just made the cutoff line in the prelims, finishing 15^th with a time of 1:53.71. He beat the 17^th swimmer, who missed the final, by a 36 hundredths of a second. In the B Final, bested his time and moved up a spot, finishing 14^th with a time of 1:53.17.

Ave Maria had two personal bests, both on the men's side. Blawas swam a personal best in the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 4:48.46, beating his previous record by two tenths of a second, and Sam Pilkington swam 21.32 in the 50 yard freestyle, besting his previous record by eight hundredths of a second.

There were no personal bests on the women's side, but Darakchieva swam a season best in the 200 yard backstroke with a time of 2:11.29.

The National Championships conclude the 2024-25 season for the Ave Maria Swim team. The Gyrenes have a lot of momentum going into the 2025-26 season after competing in their second straight national championships.