KINGSPORT, Tenn. — WVU Tech swimming opened the 2026 Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Women's and Men's Swimming and Diving Championships with a productive first day Thursday at the Kingsport Aquatic Center, highlighted by four third-place finishes and points across multiple finals.
The Golden Bears men totaled 138 points to sit third after Day 1, while the Golden Bears women scored 25 points.
On the women's side, Neda Vaicaite delivered WVU Tech's top finish of the day, taking third in the 50-yard freestyle. Vaicaite touched in 24.99 in the final after a 24.96 in prelims to earn 16 team points.
Nora Martin-Mora added key scoring in the 500-yard freestyle, placing ninth with a 6:51.26 in the final. Martin-Mora improved from a 6:55.00 in prelims and scored nine points for Tech.
WVU Tech's men opened the night session with a podium relay, as the Golden Bears A team placed third in the 200-yard medley relay in 1:37.48 to score 32 points. The quartet featured Jose Fernando Perez (26.13), Bryson George (27.03), Mauro Sanchez Lopez (22.65) and anchor Carmine Bernardo (21.67).
Bernardo followed with another bronze finish in the 500-yard freestyle, moving up from fifth in prelims to third in the final. He clocked a 4:46.54, dropping more than eight seconds from his morning swim (4:55.22), and added 16 points to the team total. Lorenzo Silva also scored in the event, placing eighth in 5:04.63 to earn 11 points after posting a 5:07.53 in prelims.
Sanchez Lopez added 12 points with a seventh-place finish in the 200-yard IM, touching in 2:04.45 after a 2:05.27 in prelims.
WVU Tech also scored multiple finishers in the men's 50-yard freestyle. Perez placed sixth in 21.71 to score 13 points, improving from a 21.98 in prelims. George finished eighth in 22.68 for 11 points. Mason Adams placed 14th in 23.94 to score three points after a 24.67 in prelims. Oleguer Siscart Muntané finished 12th in 23.16 for five points, Noah Maniace placed 15th in 24.43 for two points and Alvaro Iglesias added a point with a 16th-place finish in 25.15.
The men closed Day 1 with another third-place relay, as WVU Tech's A group finished third in the 800-yard freestyle relay in 7:07.28 for 32 points. The lineup included Bernardo (1:45.58), Siscart Muntane (1:47.80), Perez (1:45.69) and Sanchez Lopez (1:48.21).
Also in action for the Golden Bears on Thursday were Haley Jo Hunt and Giulia Colombo on the women's side, and Sebastian Morales Tito alongside Tech's men throughout the opening-day sessions.
In the team race after Day 1, WVU Tech's men sit third behind Milligan (294) and UT Southern (169), while the women are sixth behind Milligan (302), Brenau (191), Columbia (96), UT Southern (81) and Pikeville (39).
The AAC Championships continue Friday in Kingsport with morning prelims and an evening finals session.
