The Youngstown State men's swimming and diving program delivered many strong performances throughout the 2024-25 season, highlighted by 14 new school records and four top-three finishes at the Horizon League Championships.

Horizon League Championship Highlights

• The Penguin men finished in fifth place at the Horizon League Championships meet, accumulating a total of 410 points over the four-day event.
• Freshman Jacob Gramer had a great debut at his first conference championship meet, placing second in the 100 fly with a school-record time of 47.13, which was just three-hundredths of a second slower than the first-place time. He also finished third in the 100 free with a time of 44.08, a new school record.
• The 200-medley relay team of Elliot Elmore, James Slessor, Jacob Gramer, and Darren Laing finished runners-up with a school-record time of 1:27.88. This marks the first time that a men's relay team has ever reached the podium at the Horizon League Championships.
• In the 400 IM, Dominic Bono collected a second-place finish with a time of 3:51.25, which set a new program record. 
• Gavin Webb secured a third-place finish in the men's 1650 free, clocking a time of 15:31.51. This marked the fourth consecutive year that Webb finished on the podium during the event, as he had won the conference title in each of the previous three seasons. He also placed sixth in the 400 IM with a time of 3:54.23, and ninth in the 500 free, finishing in 4:25.14.
• James Slessor had a strong performance in the 100 breaststroke, placing third with a time of 54.05.
• The 800-free relay team of Lorenz Beck, Jacob Gramer, Darren Laing, and Gavin Webb swam a school-record time of 6:42.28, which was good enough for a fourth-place finish.
• Lorenz Beck clocked a time of 47.58 in the 100 fly, finishing in fifth place.
• Poyraz San Askin finished in sixth place in the 1650 free, swimming a time of 15:42.96.
• Cody Thill led the Penguin men in both the one-meter and three-meter diving events, finishing ninth in the one-meter section with a score of 296.55, and also placing ninth in the three-meter section, totaling a score of 260.10.
• Other new school records set at the Horizon League championships include Jacob Gramer in the 50 free (20.01), as well as the 400-medley relay team of Elliot Elmore, James Slessor, Lorenz Beck, and Gavin Redden (3:15.63).

National Invitational Championship Highlights

• James Slessor put forth three very strong performances in breaststroke events, placing fifth in the 50 breaststroke with a time of 24.76, sixth in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 53.96, and 15th in the 200 breaststroke, clocking a time of 1:59.80.
• The best relay finish in the meet was secured by the 400-free relay squad of Lorenz Beck, Gavin Redden, Darren Laing, and Jacob Gramer, who finished in sixth place with a collective time of 2:56.49, which set a new school record.
• Jacob Gramer collected four top-20 finishes during the meet, placing 12th in the 50 fly with a time of 21.38, 13th in the 50 free with a time of 20.25, 14th in the 100 fly as he clocked a time of 47.66, and to round things out, he placed 18th in the 100 free, finishing in 44.17.
• The Penguin men had three more top-20 relay finishes, as the 800-free relay team of Jacob Gramer, Lorenz Beck, Darren Laing, and Ethan Woycehoski finished 12th with a time of 6:42.06, the 200-medley relay team of Elliot Elmore, Dom Panozzo, Gramer, and Laing finished 15th with a time of 1:29.23, and the 200-free relay squad of Elmore, Gavin Redden, Laing, and James Slessor finished 18th with a collective time of 1:23.07.
• Lorenz Beck placed 16th in the 200 fly with a time of 1:48.49.
• Cody Thill finished in 20th place in the three-meter diving event, cumulating a score of 223.20.
• Ethan Woycehoski claimed two finishes inside the top 30 individually, placing 24th in both the 1000 free with a time of 9:56.57, and also finishing 24th in the 1650 free, finishing in 16:35.08.

Additional Highlights

• The Penguins started the season off in emphatic fashion, defeating St. Bonaventure in a dual on Sept. 26-27 inside a raucous Beeghly Natatorium, edging out the Bonnies by a score of 150-148. Aside from bookending the meet with victories in the 200-medley relay and 400-free relay events, YSU won four individual events as well. James Slessor led the squad with two event victories, capturing first-place finishes in both the 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke. Other event winners include Gavin Redden in the 100 free and Jacob Gramer in the 100 fly.
• After placing third in the one-meter diving event with a score of 215.63 and fourth in the three-meter diving event, scoring 243.83 vs. the Bonnies, Brooks Adams was named the Horizon League Men's Diver of the Week.
• Adams followed up his #HLSD weekly honor with his first event victory of the season the following week during a dual vs. Oakland on Oct. 4-5, winning the three-meter diving event. There were seven total victories by the Penguins during the dual. The 400-free relay squad of Rares Druga, Jacob Gramer, Gavin Redden, and Darren Laing claimed victory, as well as Jacob Gramer in the 100 free and 100 fly, James Slessor in both the 50 breaststroke and 100 breaststroke, and Elliot Elmore in the 50 backstroke.
• The Penguins broke multiple records as they won nine events and claimed their second team victory of the season at the Akron Zips Classic on Oct. 11-12. YSU finished with 1149.5 points, which was 66 points ahead of second-place Xavier. Two new meet records were broken, the first by James Slessor, who won the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:00.36, and the second by the 400-free relay team of Lorenz Beck, Darren Laing, Gavin Redden, and Jacob Gramer, who set a new mark to beat with a time of 3:00.56 en route to their first-place finish. Other winners during the meet include Gavin Webb in the 500 free, Jacob Gramer in the 50 free, Darren Laing in the 100 free, Dominic Bono in the 200 backstroke and 400 IM, Brooks Adams in the three-meter dive, and the 200-free relay squad of Gramer, Laing, Redden, and Rares Druga.
• Poyraz San Askin highlighted five event victories for the Penguins during a dual at Niagara on Oct. 26, as he claimed first place in the 1000 free with a new pool-record time of 9:43.99. Other victories include Gavin Webb in the 500 free, Jacob Gramer in the 100 fly, James Slessor in the 100 breaststroke, and Lorenz Beck in the 200 fly.
• During the Senior Day dual vs. Cleveland State on Nov. 2, YSU claimed six victories. The 200-medley relay team of Elliot Elmore, James Slessor, Lorenz Beck, and Jacob Gramer claimed a win, as well as individual event victories, from Slessor in both the 100 breaststroke and 200, Gramer in the 200 fly, Darren Laing in the 100 free, and Gavin Webb in the 500 free.
• Jacob Gramer set a new meet record in the 50 fly twice as he swam a time of 21.68 in the preliminary round, and then he won the event later in the day with a time of 21.46 at the three-day Magnus Cup Invitational hosted by Cleveland State from Nov. 21-23. Gavin Webb also shined as he won both the 500 free and 1650 free individual events at the meet.
• Select Penguins swimmers competed in the 2024 CSCAA Open Water Championships, hosted by Florida International University, on Dec. 15. The Penguin men had three swimmers place in the top 50 of their 5K race, as Gavin Webb and Poyraz San Askin finished close to each other in 11th and 12th, while Crispy Barton finished in 42nd place.
• James Slessor claimed two of the three individual event victories for YSU during a dual with IU-Indy on Jan. 10-11, placing first in the 50 breaststroke and 100 breaststroke. The other event winner for the Penguins was Poyraz San Askin, who won the 1650 free.
• YSU had a very strong showing in a dual vs. Denison on Jan. 18, winning nine total events. The Penguins won two relay events, including the 200-medley relay crew of Elliot Elmore, James Slessor, Lorenz Beck, and Jacob Gramer, as well as the 200-free relay squad of Rares Druga, Darren Laing, Gavin Redden, and Jacob Gramer. The Penguins also won seven individual events during the meet, Poyraz San Askin claimed victory in the 1000 free, Jacob Gramer won the 100 free, James Slessor finished first in the 50 and 200 breaststroke, Lorenz Beck won the 50 free and 50 fly, and Cody Thill claimed a victory in the three-meter diving event with a school record score of 331.73. Thill also broke the school record in the one-meter dive during the meet, scoring 286.58.

Academic Excellence

• The Penguins had four student-athletes earn Horizon League All-Academic accolades this season. Terin Frodyma and James Slessor were named to the 2025 Valeo Horizon League Swimming and Diving All-Academic Team, while Soma Albert and Gavin Webb were named as honorable mentions.
• Four Penguins were named to the 2024-25 CSC Academic All-District Team: Soma Albert, Terin Frodyma, James Slessor, and Gavin Webb.
• The program earned CSCAA Fall Scholar All-American honors with a 3.51 Fall 2024 GPA.

Sportsmanship Award

• For the second consecutive season, Terin Frodyma was named the recipient of the Horizon League Swimming and Diving Men's Sportsmanship award for demonstrated acts of sportsmanship and ethical behavior.
• YSU Head Coach Brad Smith had high remarks for Frodyma: "He is someone that his peers admire and look up to, he's a great role model, and he's a good teammate. He's often selfless. He can always be found celebrating his teammates' accomplishments, pepping up the team, and being a listening ear to others. He's shown other teams, coaches, and Horizon League staff the same wonderful sportsmanship that we so often see".