Thomas Langlois, Mark Kovacsics, Batu Servi Go 1-2-3 at the MPSF Open Water Swimming Championships

Photos courtesy of Karina Toriz. Video courtesy of Dr. Pleiades.

Right from the start, it was clear that Thomas Langlois of Whittier College, Mark Kovacsics of California Baptist University, and Batu Servi of Grand Canyon University were all business at the 5 km MPSF Open Water Swimming Championships held in Long Beach, California yesterday.

Under sunny skies, no wind, warm tranquil conditions, and 65°F (18.3°C) water, Marine Stadium was the perfect setting for a great competition among college student-athletes – and spectators who lined the course from end to end.

By the end of the first leg of the rectangular 5-loop course, Langlois, Kovacsics, and Servi has separated themselves from the field. “I did not want to swim in a big pack around the turn buoys,” commented Kovacsics.

Langlois, a French-Canadian from Quebec who posted the fastest 1000-yard freestyle time in NCAA Division III this year in a 9:39.80 had the same idea. Langlois and Servi, a freshman from Ankara, Turkey, pushed the pace and had opened up a two-body lead by the third loop.

But defending champion Kovacsics, a 4:19.55 500-yard freestyler, was not about to hand over his title without a battle. The distance freestyler from Vac, Hungary picked up the pace with a 6-beat kick and closed the gap by the middle of the fourth lap. The trio went around the last 6 turn buoys together. Sometimes, the men were side-by-side. Sometimes, they were drafting over the hips of each others.

The three continued to push the pace until the last turn buoy when Kovacsics jumped out to a half body lead. The race was his, but then the 5′-6″ Langlois took it to another gear and pulled alongside the taller 6′-1″ opponent. They swam into the shallow water together, but Langlois’ hand hi the same, he went vertical immediately and sprinted to the onshore finish as Kovacsics stumbled, knowing the race was over.

Kovacsics led his California Baptist University teammates to a team victory as Servi led his Grand Canyon University team to a close second. All three top podium finishers earned an automatic qualification to the 2025 USA National Open Water Swimming Championships.

Both the men’s and women’s 5 km race on October 19th, organized by Kaia Hedlund, were live streamed at Game On Live Studio.

Men’s 5 km Results

Thomas Langlois, 20, Whittier College 59:26.00
Mark Kovacsics, 22, California Baptist University 59:30.00
Batu Servi, 19, Grand Canyon University 59:34.00
Cody Meyer, 22, California Baptist University 1:01:24.00
Kyle Brill, 21, University of California Santa Barbara 1:01:28.00
Connor Martilla, 20, University of California Santa Barbara 1:03:07.00
Colin Campbell, 20, Grand Canyon University 1:03:52.00
Josh Delizo, 21, California Baptist University 1:03:58.00
Joe Stephenson, 19, Grand Canyon University 1:04:40.00
Owen Berry, 19, University of California Santa Barbara1:06:13.00
Noah Hall, 20, Biola University 1:06:23.00
Kyle Huang, 19, Pomona Pitzer 1:07:53.00
Easton Mousser, 17, Grand Canyon University 1:08:05.00
Austin De La O, 20, California Baptist University 1:08:16.00
Atu Ambala, 23, Grand Canyon University 1:08:34.00
Theo Holtzman, 18, Pomona Pitzer 1:08:42.00
Allen Chang, 21, Pomona Pitzer 1:08:59.00
Jack Christy, 18, Pomona Pitzer 1:10:54.00
James Saw, 20, Whittier College 1:14:44.00
Nick Coltrin, 21, Whittier College 1:16:48.00

Men’s 4x500m Relay Results:

Grand Canyon University in 24:06.00 with Batu Servi, Easton Mousser, Colin Campbell, Colin, Joe Stephenson
California Baptist University A in 24:48.00 with Andrew Teh, John Sullivan, Justin Welch, Liam Flaherty
Concordia University Irvine A in 25:09.00 with Mitchell Cullen, Joseph Molettieri, Tom McCabe, Hunter May
California Baptist University B in 25:34.00 with Lucas Colombo, Remi Fabiani, Andrija Petkovic, Jonathan Reiter
Pomona Pitzer A in 26:02.00 with Allen Chang, Kyle Huang, Jack Christy, Kai Parker
Concordia University Irvine B in 26:02.00 with Andrew Salladin, Garrin Hatfield, Aidan Keane, Lanis Webb
California Baptist University C in 27:03.00 with Matthew Perje, Brendan Man, Simeon Rinkenberger, X Chauvapun
California Baptist University D in 28:26.00 with Ian Mullen, Nate Bjornstad, Braxton Wong, Daniel Elwyn