The Tigers not only made history, but also seven "B" national cuts, four pool records and two meet records in Erdmann Natatorium this weekend.
During the two-day DePauw Invitational, swimmers constantly threatened to break records.
But sophomore Casey Hooker saw it in a bigger picture.
"There are big meets going on like this all over the country, so even when we swim good times, like we did in this meet, it's all in perspective," Hooker said. "We are competing against everyone, not just the teams at our meet."
The Tigers held an 165-point lead after the first day of the invite on Friday and continued to swim with the intensity to make a record-breaking weekend. The meet wrapped up with DePauw in first place Saturday evening, scoring 1,161 points. The Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology placed second with 726 points.
"I think Rose-Hulman is one improved team, and I have to give them credit," head coach Adam Cohen said. "It's a team that a couple years ago was at the bottom. I was really impressed."
The goal to make NCAA times started early with a "B" cut by the 200-yard freestyle relay team of junior Jack Burgeson, sophomores Matt Bacinich and Alex Alfonso and freshman Blake Lehmann, timed at 1 minute, 22.45 seconds in the meet's first event.
"For this meet, we shaved and tapered, so we were expecting fast times," Burgeson said. "I just don't think we were expecting to swim as fast we did in the meet."
DePauw's relay teams continued to find success as Hooker, senior Robby Spichiger, junior Matt Haeske and freshman Alex Grissom finished first, setting a pool and meet record and making a "B" cut with a time of 6:49.95 in the 800 free relay.
The 400 medley relay team of Alfonso, Lehmann, senior Matt Kukurugya and junior Matt Gleason ended Friday night's finals by setting pool and meet records and making a "B" cut with a time of 3:25.15. Saturday's contest started with a blistering 200 medley relay time trial by Alfonso, Kukurugya, Gleason and Burgeson.
"Jack Burgeson had an unbelievable career meet," Cohen said. "In my career, I can't think of anyone that threw those kind of times down and made those kind of drops."
Alfonso swam the 100 backstroke in 51.74 seconds to make a "B" cut. Grissom made a "B" cut in the 200 free with a time of 1:41.51 and also set a pool and meet record. Hooker swam a 49.54 in the 100 butterfly, just 0.2 seconds away from an "A" cut.
The Invitational ended Saturday night with Hooker, Alfonso, Burgeson and Lehmann making a "B" time of 3:04.81 in the 400 free relay. DePauw is now ranked No. 14 in the NCAA Div. III polls and looks to keep climbing to the top with their other conference adversaries.
"If we dwell on what we accomplished then we aren't going to get any better," Hooker said. "We have the toughest conference in the nation, so we have to be prepared for that and train extremely hard."
DePauw will be back in action Jan. 11-12 at the Washington-St. Louis Invitational.