SAINT LEO, Fla. – The Saint Leo men's swimming team won 11 of 14 events Friday afternoon as they dominated the visiting Florida Tech Panthers, 166-95, to open up the 2018-19 season. Freshman Hampus Lovinge led the squad with three individual victories while also leading off the winning 200 medley relay.
 
Lovinge won the 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke and 200 individual medley at his first collegiate event. The rookie from Norrkoping, Sweden cruised across the pool in 50.84 to take the 100 back title while turning in a time of 1:53.55 in the 200 back. He stopped the clock in 1:54.08 to claim the IM win as well. He was joined by junior Henrik Dahrendorff, freshman Filip Bjorkholm and junior Michael Southward in the medley relay as the quartet defeated the field with a time of 1:34.37.
 
Dahrendorff was a two-time individual winner on Friday as the Beckum, Germany native won the 100 and 200 breaststroke events. He touched at 56.58 to win the 100 and stopped the clock at 2:08.36 in the 200.
 
Junior Matija Rafaj also picked up a pair of victories as he led the Lions to two podium sweeps in the 500 freestyle and 1,000 freestyle. Rafaj finished his 20 laps in 4:42.18 while completing the 40 lap race in 9:49.11. Graduate transfer Yann Corbel and junior Logan Lamb finished second and third in each race to complete the sweep.
 
Junior Christian Cioffi led a podium sweep in the 100 freestyle as he blazed through the water in 47.39. Sophomore transfer Fridtjov Mork and Southward finished second and third to round out the top-three.
 
Freshman Matthew Daniel was the only other individual winner for the Lions as he made his collegiate debut with a victory in the 200 butterfly. The rookie from Alton, Ill., posted a time of 1:55.00.
 
Cioffi, Daniel, Mork and Southward teamed up to win the 400 freestyle relay to cap off the day. The team posted a time of 3:08.33.
 
The Lions will be back in action next Saturday at 11 a.m. as they take on Florida Southern in a dual meet at the Marion Bowman Aquatics Center.
 
For the latest news, updates, and information on the Saint Leo swimming, be sure to visit SaintLeoLions.com.  Fans can also stay up-to-date on the latest Lions news by following Saint Leo Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.