Eastern Illinois at IU Indy Invite
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana (IU Natatorium)
Date & Time: October 3rd at 3:30 PM
Competing Teams: IU Indy, Bellarmine, Bowling Green, Butler, and Xavier
Eastern Illinois swimming officially begins their 2026-27 season campaign with a trip to Indianapolis, Indiana, for the IU Indy Invite. The Panthers will begin competition at 3:30 PM against Bellarmine, Bowling Green, Butler, Xavier, and the host, IU Indy. Results will be available after the conclusion of the meet.
Summit League Swimmers to Watch
Eddie Myers was named a swimmer to watch for the upcoming 2026-2027 season. The junior competes in freestyle and butterfly. Myers competed in eight meets last season, swimming a personal record in the 200 Free (1:41.28) and 500 Free (4:37.00) at the Summit League championship, which ranks 4th fastest at EIU. He swam the 7th fastest 1000 free time in school history at 9:52.06.
Sydney VanderVelde was named to the women's swimmers to watch for the upcoming season. VanderVelde competes in breaststroke and freestyle. The senior competed in nine meets last season, setting three EIU top ten marks in the 200 IM, 100 IM, and 200 Free. She swam the 200 IM at the Summit League championship with a time of 2:07.81, which ranked second on the EIU top ten lists. VanderVelde also swam the 200 free at the championship, finishing with a time of 1:54.50, ranking fourth fastest in EIU history.
Key Returners
Simonas Rimskis returns for his sophomore year after leading the 200 Medley Relay team to the fastest time in school history with a team time of 1:29.17. Rimskis led the 200 Free Relay to the 5th fastest time in EIU with a team time of 1:22.67. He scored two personal bests and a season best at the Summit League Championship. In the 50 Breast, he swam a time of 26.10, and in the 100 Breast, with a time of 57.27.
Nolan Wallace is back for his senior year after winning the 2025 Summit League Scholar-Athlete of the Championships. He collected three personal bests and a season best at the championship. He set the school record in the 100 Breast with a time of 55.80. Wallace now ranks 3rd all-time in EIU history in the 200 Breast with a time of 2:04.72.
Remingtyn Bokos returns as a senior after ranking 6th all-time in school history in the 200 Back with a time of 2:06.50. Her season best in the 1650 Free (18:01.38), 1000 Free (11:09.86), 500 Free (5:20.56), 200 Back (2:06.50), and 100 Back (1:05.99).
Anna Mueller is back for junior season after competing in nine meets last season. Her 500 Free time (5:12.27) ranked ninth fastest in EIU history. She recorded three top-five finishes against Illinois (100 Breast, 200 Breast, and 100 Fly).
Newcomers
Men's swimming bolstered their roster with 13 newcomers in a mixture of four-year transfers and high school swimmers. The class includes Poyraz San Askin, Walker Bridenstine, Jameson Cooke, Landon Dehn, Charlie Edwards, Jack Hannon, Sean Kennedy, Jaedon Lynch, Andre Myers, Elijah Nevins, Pat O'Brien, Joaquin Ruales and Jonathan Ting.
Women's swimming announced ten new faces for the upcoming season. Set to make their Panthers debut include Emelia D'Alessio, Ava Gombosi, Kara Anne Hofmann, Margo Maddaloni, Aubrey Faith McLaughlin, Maris Miller, Summer Pfeiffer, Emma Popp, Emily Sang, and Gabby Schmidt.
Panthers Head Coach
Scott Teeters enters his third season as head of the Panthers but is no stranger to the sport of swimming. The 10th head coach in program history has close to 40 years of coaching experience with 25 seasons at the collegiate level. Under his direction, he led the team to a Summit League Academic Achievement Award last season. He also led the team to be named the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America Scholar All-America Teams announced by the CSCAA. At the Summit League Championship, he coached the team to 22 top ten program marks and broke six school records.
