Matteo Ballardin celebrates winning gold, smashing GLIAC records, and setting the fastest time in the nation

Men's Swimming and Diving 2/7/2026 7:45:00 PM Braden Golisek - Assistant Director of Sports Information

Record-Breaking Gold for Ballardin at GLIAC Championships

Freshman Matteo Ballardin broke the GLIAC record in the 400 IM, a record that stood since 2013.

HOLLAND, Mich. -- The moment of day two from the GLIAC Championships came from Northern Michigan University freshman Matteo Ballardin, who broke a GLIAC record that stood for 13 years.

All in one swoop, Ballardin broke the GLIAC Championship and overall record, the pool record, and posted the top time in the country in the 400 IM en route to earning gold. Thanks to a dominant performance that saw him beat the rest of the field by half a pool length, Ballardin's time of 3:47.46 beat the previous GLIAC mark of 3:47.62, which was set by Piotr Jachowicz of Wayne State in 2013. Ballardin now has two gold medals at this years championships, first in the 200 IM yesterday and now in the 400 IM.

Leo Nolles continued his championship tear, missing gold by 0.06 seconds to earn silver in the 100 fly, giving him four medals in two days.

Also representing NMU in championship heats were Zachary Billote (8th, 4:00.88) in the 400 IM, and Alessandro Rosatelli (4th, 1:38.65) and Daniel Khmara (6th, 1:38.90) in the 200 free.

The 200 medley relay team thought they won silver, but were DQ'd by the judges.

The teams return to action for day two of the GLIAC Championships tomorrow. Day three features the 500 Freestyle, 100 Backstroke, 100 Breaststroke, 200 Butterfly, 3-meter diving, and 800 Freestyle Relay.

The prelim sessions begin at 10 a.m. ET, and the finals will begin at 5:30 p.m. ET. Fans can catch both the prelims and finals action on Flo Swimming and follow along on the Meet Mobile app.

All things GLIAC Championships can be found here.

How It Happened
Leo Nolles was the lone Wildcat representative in the 100 fly, as he entered the championship heat with the sixth-fastest time from the prelims this morning. Nolles was ahead at the split with a time of 21.72, and the finish came down to milliseconds, as Nolles would earn silver at 47.29, just 0.06 seconds off the lead.

Matteo Ballardin and Zachary Billotte both represented NMU in the 400 IM, with Ballardin entering the championship flight as the highest seed from the morning prelims. Balalrdin had a body length on the rest of the field less than halfway through, and at points a half-a-pool length lead, en route to a dominant gold-medal performance, touching the wall at 3:47.46, a full six seconds ahead of silver. Billotte would finish in eighth place with 4:00.88.

The 200 free B final featured Gabriel Fulconi and Jef Leroux down the middle in lanes four and five, as the duo would finish seventh and eighth in the heat at 1:41.05 and 1:43.73. Daniel Khmara and Alessandro Rosatelli competed in the championship heat, swimming in lanes one and eight. Khmara and Rosatelli were second and fourth through the first split, seventh and fourth at the halfway point, sixth and fifth at the final split, before finishing sixth and fourth with times of 1:38.90 and 1:38.65, respectively.

The men's 400 medley relay team entered the finals with the fifth-fastest entry time ahead of the championship heat. The relay team fought from a slow start to a photo finish for silver, as the 'Cats would edge out SVSU at 3:12.73. After the dramatic comeback, the judges determined that there was an issue with NMU's race, and DQ'd the 'Cats.

Running Medal Count
Day 1
200 Medley - Bronze (Rocheleau, Tease, LaCount, Nolles)
200 IM - Gold and Bronze (Ballardin and Rosatelli)
50 free - Gold (Nolles)
1-meter diving - Bronze (Stiles)
200 free relay - Silver (LaCount, Fulconi, Leroux, Nolles)

Day 2
100 Fly - Silver (Nolles)
400 IM - Gold, GLIAC Record (Ballardin)

Morning Session
The men's 100 fly prelims saw a field of 67 swimmers in the morning, and the first NMU man represented came in heat three of nine. Youssef Nahali posted a time of 52.87 before Rafael Schaub posted his time of 50.18 to win heat four. Heat six featured Caleb Rice, who touched the wall at 49.98 to take third in his heat. Following were William LaCount and Ian Rocheleau in heat seven, who swam times of 49.68 and 49.94. Liam Boomer and Hudson Lowery competed in the penultimate heat, posting times of 50.02 and 52.46, respectively. The final heat saw Leo Nolles and Andrew Tease, where Nolles posted a time of 47.87 and Tease at 51.45.

The fourth and final heat of the 400 IM featured the only two Wildcats in the event, Matteo Ballardin and Zachary Billotte. Ballardin dominated the final heat, cruising to first at 3:56.17, followed by Billotte in second at 4:00.49.

The final prelim of the morning, the 200 free, saw eight heats on the men's side. It wasn't until the fifth heat that the first Wildcat swam, and it was Jef Leroux in lane two. Leroux claimed first place in the heat with a 1:39.31, holding the top time after heat five. The following heat saw Daniel Khmara take to the pool in lane six, the second fastest time in his heat at 1:39.00. Timothee Garin represented the 'Cats in heat seven, posting a 1:43.55, before Gabriel Fulconi, Alessandro Rosatelli, and Bazil Massotte took off in the final heat of the morning. Rosatelli led the way at 1:39.19, followed closely by Fulconi at 1:39.23, and rounded out by Massotte at 1:42.68.

Max Swiatkowski swam a 50 free time trial, swimming a 20.98.

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Players Mentioned

Zachary Billotte: Sophomore

Liam Boomer: Senior

Gabriel Fulconi: 5' 11"; Junior

Daniel Khmara: 5' 9"; Senior

William LaCount: Senior

Jef Leroux: 6' 5"; Senior

Hudson Lowery: Senior

Leo Nolles: Senior

Caleb Rice: 6' 0"; Senior

Ian Rocheleau: Senior

Players Mentioned

Zachary Billotte
: Sophomore

Liam Boomer
: Senior

Gabriel Fulconi
: 5' 11"; Junior

Daniel Khmara
: 5' 9"; Senior

William LaCount
: Senior

Jef Leroux
: 6' 5"; Senior

Hudson Lowery
: Senior

Leo Nolles
: Senior

Caleb Rice
: 6' 0"; Senior

Ian Rocheleau
: Senior