Eastern Illinois vs. Olivet Nazarene
Location: Charleston, Illinois (Padovan Pool)
Date & Time: October 9th at 4:00 PM
Eastern Illinois welcomes Olivet Nazarene for their 2026-27 home opener at Padovan Pool. The meet will kick off at 4:00 PM. The Panthers are coming off their season opener at the IU Indy Invite. The men's team picked up wins against Bellarmine and Xavier, while the women's earned a victory over Bellarmine.
Men's Swimming
At the Indy Invite, Poyraz San Askin broke the EIU 1000-yard freestyle record by over 10 seconds with a second-place finish, earning a new record time of 9:29.00. Askin also placed third in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:41.05.
The Panthers men's 200-yard medley relay (Elijah Nevins, Simonas Rimskis, Luke Helm, Shane Gabel) earned a third-place finish with a time of 1:32.94.
RJ Higgins placed fourth in the 100-yard backstroke with a final time of 51.72.
Rimskis placed second in the 100-yard breastroke with a time of 57.66, which ranks tenth fastest in program history.
Jameson Cooke placed fourth in the 200-yard butterfly with a final time of 1:57.19.
The 200-yard medley relay team (RJ Higgins, Nolan Wallace, Gabe Green, and Jack Hannon) finished sixth with a time of 1:33.92.
Women's Swimming
In the win over Bellarmine, Macy Ahrens had an impressive EIU debut, earning a sixth-place finish in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 11:04.16. Ahrens also placed fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:08.07.
Jenna Patridge was nominated for Summit League Swimmer of the Week after swimming the 100-yard backstroke in a time of 58.96, earning a fifth-place finish. Patridge also swam the 200-yard backstroke in a time of 2:07.54, earning a third-place finish. Patridge's 100-yard backstroke is the tenth fastest time in school history, almost beating her personal best from last season, which ranks eight in school history. Her 200-yard backstroke ranks eighth fastest in EIU history, only a second off from her personal best.
Maja Przybylska earned a top ten finish in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 54.56.
Sophia Buswell earned a top ten finish in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:15.97. Buswell also placed ninth in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:00.39.
Scouting Report
This Friday will mark the season opener for Olivet Nazarene, who hosted the Panthers last year. In 2025, the EIU men's team beat the Tigers 158-117, while the women's team lost 133-128. Olivet Nazarene is led by Head Coach Mark Logan, who is in his first season as head coach.
Looking Ahead: The Panthers will host their annual EIU Alumni Meet on October 24th at 9 am.
