Three-Peat for Keiser University women's swimming and diving team

Seated in a dimly lit office with a newly acquired national championship trophy perched to his right, Adam Epstein revealed the key to his success: people.

A week ago, Epstein, head coach of Keiser University's women’s swimming and diving team, helped lead the Seahawks to their third consecutive NAIA national championship; an unprecedented streak of success to become only the second active program to accomplish a “three-peat” of national titles.

Keiser added its latest championship banner to the collection on Sunday by completing a dominant performance at the national championship meet in Columbus, Georgia - ending every day of the event sitting atop the standings. The Seahawks compiled 655.5 points to easily outdistance St. Thomas (405), Milligan (324), Olivet Nazarene (315) and Indiana Indiana Wesleyan (283).

“Really excited for the ladies to see all their hard work come to a head,” Epstein said. “Very fortunate to have unbelievable leadership. Our captains and leaders really believe in the system.”

But the foundation upon which this program and its string of championships was built wasn’t an extensive practice schedule or a signing series of blue-chip recruits.

“We wanted to make sure we had good human beings, first and foremost,” Epstein said. “Set the groundwork to make sure our students know that our core values are more important than swimming fast.”

That was the mindset Epstein took when he signed on to become the program’s inaugural head coach in 2017, and with it has built Keiser from scratch into one of the most respected women’s swimming and diving teams in the country. That same ideology has been preached to each swimmer and diver on the team since they were recruited to the time they jumped into the pool. It's no wonder Epstein was named NAIA Coach of the Year for the fourth time.

“When I was getting recruited by [Epstein] to transfer he made this sport seem like so much more than just a sport,” said senior Aubrey Bach, who won the 100 Free in 51.13 seconds. “It was like you’re coming here to join a family.”

Bach also was part of the winning 400 freestyle relay team - along with Ines Laurent, Timea Aspergren and Danai Sofoulis - who posted a 3:26.65 time. They all earned All-American honors. The 400 medley relay of Marine Lecomte, Nikoline Biltoft-Jensen, Ines Laurent and Danai Sofoulis posted a 3:44 for a national record.

The championships, Bach said, are just a side effect of the culture they’ve built at Keiser.

“With the group of girls we’ve got, it’s easy to motivate each other and know we’ve got each other’s backs," Bach said. "I think that creates a family instead of just a team, which makes it easier to win.”

But the Seahawks’ three-year run of national titles hasn’t come without its fair share of adversity.

Keiser finished the regular season below .500 in dual matchups with a record of 3-4 after playing up for portions of its schedule against Division I and II programs. That included a visit to Florida Atlantic University in late October where the Seahawks fell to the Owls, 220-60.

“We continue to challenge ourselves by swimming up to our competition to make sure our schedule prepares us to win a national championship,” Epstein said.

Even after an up-and-down regular season, the Seahawks continued buying into the family culture Epstein had established and went on to dominate all three days of the Sun Conference Championships. Keiser never finished a day of the conference championship or the national championship outside of first place.

“It was where we all wanted to perform our best so it was exciting, nerve racking, just a mix of emotions,” said Rachel Bradley, who set a national record in the 400 IM with a time of 4:22.41 and a school record in the 500 Free of 4:56.86.

“But it always helps when you’ve got the girls around you supporting you.”

More: Keiser football: Doug Socha leaves for Lenoir-Rhyne University, Myles Russ replaces him

With a third consecutive national championship trophy sitting in Epstein’s office waiting to be added to the school's trophy case, the Seahawks say the next step is to continue building the culture upon which their success was built.

“Winning is fantastic,” Epstein said. “But we want to continue to focus on ourselves.”

As they enter the offseason with their eyes fixed on adding a fourth consecutive national title, the success is taking back seat to the culture of family the Seahawks have built.

“Obviously it would be great to win four or five or six, however many times,” Bach said. “But I think at the end of the day if we show up and compete with honor, dignity and respect, we’d still win no matter the outcome of a meet.”

Keiser men swimming and diving team finishes second at nationals

The No. 1-ranked Keiser men's swimming & diving team placed second at the 2024 NAIA National Championship with 624.5 points. St. Thomas won the crown with 640.5 points.

The five-time national champs claimed four individual national champions, two relay national champions, and 45 All-Americans.

Noel De Geus was named the NAIA Swimmer of the Year. He set three national records with a time of 1:56.29 in the 200 Breast , 51.80 in the 100 Breast and 19.57 in the 50 free. Alex Kusk set a national record with a 1:46.76 in the 200 IM.

The 400 medley relay team of De Geus, Matheus Queiroz, Angel Margaritov and Hanno Boeckmann set a national record with a 3:11.87. They also won the 200 medley relay in a school-record 1:26.87.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Keiser Seahawks women's swimming diving team wins third straight NAIA title