Colsman’s record gives Seattle U a bright spot in Malibu defeats

Rain City Sports editorial desk | October 25, 2026 | Event completed October 24.

A record within a difficult team result

Seattle University completed its October 23–24 swimming meet in Malibu with a school record from Hennig Colsman, but without a dual-meet win. The men lost 137–106 to Denver. The women lost 167–77 to Pepperdine and 216–45 to Denver, according to Seattle U’s official schedules.

The competition took place at Pepperdine’s Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool. Separating the individual performances from the team scores gives a clearer account of the weekend: Seattle U produced meaningful progress in several events while the aggregate results still showed work to do.

Colsman lowers the sprint mark

Seattle U reported that Colsman won the 50-yard freestyle in 19.78 seconds, improving the previous school record of 19.88 that he had shared with Nicholas Imig. He also won the 100 freestyle in 44.27.

The school credited the men with victories in both the 200 medley relay and the 200 freestyle relay. On the women’s side, Ruth Magnotti’s 1:02.95 in the 100 breaststroke ranked fifth in program history. Those are specific performance markers rather than a general claim that the team result was successful.

The coaching perspective

In Seattle U’s October 24 report, assistant coach Jack Neton praised the team’s racing and the community-building aspect of the trip. He also highlighted relay performances and early-season personal bests. His comments recognize development even as the final dual scores remain defeats.

Analysis: that distinction is useful in evaluating an early-season meet. A faster time is genuine progress regardless of an opponent’s score. At the same time, winning a dual requires contributions across the lineup, so individual records cannot stand in for an assessment of the whole team.

What needs to improve

Analysis: Seattle U can use this meet to identify where competitive times are already translating into points and where the gap remains larger. The men’s 31-point margin against Denver and the women’s wider margins require different reviews. Treating all three defeats as the same performance would obscure those differences.

Analysis: the practical objective is to keep the record-level efforts while building more scoring opportunities around them. Relay execution is one place where an improvement can reflect the work of several swimmers together. The published results establish the outcomes; they do not establish a specific technical fault for any individual swimmer.

Back to Seattle

The men’s schedule lists Pacific at the Redhawk Center on Saturday, November 7, at 9:15 a.m. Pacific. The women’s schedule lists Pacific and Alaska Fairbanks at the same venue and time. Those home meets provide the next opportunity to test whether the progress seen in Malibu can produce a stronger team result.

Sources

• Seattle U: official Malibu meet recap and Neton comments (checked 2026-10-25)
• Seattle U: men’s final dual score and schedule (checked 2026-10-25)
• Seattle U: women’s final dual scores and schedule (checked 2026-10-25)
• Pepperdine: official venue and opening-day meet report (checked 2026-10-25)

Analysis and recommendations are the editorial desk’s interpretation. Reporting and attributed perspectives are linked above. Information is current as of the publication date.