WESTMONT, Ill. - Wildcats Stuart Seymour, Diego Nosack and Zoe Nordmann highlighted Northwestern swimming and diving’s showing at the USA Swimming Short Course World Trials, held Oct. 28-31 at the FMC Natatorium in Westmont, Ill.
The meet, held in short course meters rather than the traditional yards format of college swimming, was a USA Swimming Selection meet for the upcoming 2026 World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) in December. It was the first-ever U.S. selection meet for a Short Course Worlds.
While no Northwestern swimmer made the final Team USA roster, the ‘Cats were still represented in the finals, or the top eight, of five different events.
Nordmann gave Northwestern its top finish of the competition, placing third with a time of 8:31.09 in the 800 Free. Her time, a personal best by 8.85 seconds, was just 0.55 away from second-place finisher Katie McCarthy’s time.
Seymour was Northwestern’s first finals berth in Westmont, placing eighth in the 100 IM on day two. His time of 52.49 was over a second faster than the 53.98 he clocked in October 2025 at the World Aquatics World Cup, which had been his best time heading into Short Course Trials.
In addition, Seymour also notched a fifth-place finish in the 50 Back, the highest placement on the men’s side for Northwestern. He posted a time of 23.62 in the event, just 0.34 seconds off of Johnny Crush’s second-place time that qualified him for Worlds.Â
Nosack also notched two finals swims for the ‘Cats. He finished seventh in the 200 Fly with a time of 1:57.36, improving from his pre-meet personal best of 1:58.33, and the 1:59.75 he clocked at Northwestern’s October tri-meet against Indiana and Texas. In addition, he scored a fifth-place finish in the 200 IM with a time of 1:58.73.
Flawia Kamzol, who was ineligible to swim in finals as an international swimmer, scored two fourth-place finishes in the preliminary heats of the event. She went a time of 25.67 in the 50 Fly, which is a best time by 0.16 and would have placed fifth in finals. In the 100 Fly, she swam a 57.34, another best time, which would have placed fourth in finals.
Oli Kos was another international swimmer who placed top eight in prelims. He had an eighth-place finish in the 100 Back, where he claimed a personal-best time of 51.97, breaking both the 53- and 52-second barriers for the first time in one swim.
Other Northwestern competitors at trials included Connor Schuster, Cade Duncan, David Gerchik, Joshua Staples, Grey Davis and Aya Ferguson. In total, 11 different Wildcats raced in Westmont.