The Eastern men’s and women’s swimming teams will be back in action Saturday for the second time this season. 

Although it is Homecoming Weekend for many at Eastern, the swimming teams will be on the road against Valparaiso, with the meet scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.

The Panthers are coming off their season opening meet against Evansville at home, in which the men’s team lost 125-76 and the women’s team lost 129-69.

Some individual Panther swimmers found success in the meet, with freshman Autumn Grinter winning the women’s 100-yard freestyle with a time of 54.29. 

The men’s team fared well in the meet’s final event, which was the 200-yard freestyle relay. Forrest Baumgartner, Jarod Farrow, Dismas Dillion and Jacob Nichols won the event with a time of 1:29.88. An Eastern team consisting of  Payton Buse, Ajay Ahooja, Alex Adams and Spencer Wilson finished second in the event with a time of 1:29.99. 

A team on the women’s side performed well in the 200-yard medley relay with the team of Olivia Viele, Corinne Staneart, Kaylan Ottosen, and Camryn Lewis coming in second place in the event.

Valparaiso has competed three times already this season. 

The Beacons opened the season on Sept. 26 in Butler Double Duals. They then competed in meets on back-to-back days on Oct. 15 at Evansville and Oct. 16 in the Indiana Intercollegiates meet hosted by Purdue. 

In the Indiana Intercollegiates, the men’s team placed seventh out of 10 teams and the women’s team placed ninth. The Beacons had three swimmers break into the top-10 in school history in the 100-yard individual medley in the event. 

Eastern also visited Valparaiso last season. Both the men’s and women’s teams were successful for Eastern, with the men winning 148-113 and the women winning 144-118. 

Adam Tumino can be reached at 581-2812 or ajtumino@eiu.edu