COLUMBUS, Ga. – WVU Tech's Simon Merhout competed in the 100 Back and 200 Back during the NAIA National Championship March 8-9 in Columbus. The Golden Bear traveled to Georgia with head coach Kennedy Smith to the be the lone representative for the Gold and Blue in the 2024 swimming championship.

Merhout, a freshman from Újezd u Brna, Czech Republic, competed in a field of 31 swimmers in the 100 and 24 competitors in the 200. His initial showing was on Friday during the 100 Prelims where the freshman touched at 51.97. On Saturday, Merhout finished with a time of 1:55.70 in the 200 Back.

The Golden Bear earned six top-three finishes including individually a first place showing (1:52.65) in the 200 Back and second place in the 100 Back (51.67) during the River States Conference Championship. Merhout was also a member of four relay teams that finished third including the 200 Medley Relay (1:36.66), 200 Free Relay (1:28.24), 400 Medley Relay (3:33.09) and 400 Free Relay (3:12.61). The top-three finishes earned Merhout All-Conference honors for each event.