Daniel Nicusan Caps Historic UNLV Career with Record-Breaking NCAA Performance

UNLV Rebels senior swimming star Daniel Nicusan participated in the NCAA Championships this weekend at Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center in King County, Washington. On Saturday, he finished with another top-25 finish in the 200-meter breast. He finished in 17th overall in the 200 breast (1:52.27).

Nicusan also broke his own Western Athletic Conference and UNLV record, while winning a heat during the prelims. His finish was the best ever by a UNLV student-athlete in the 200 breast at the NCAA Championships.

Watch Daniel Nicusan earn a 200 breast heat win, break his own WAC and school records and place 17th overall at NCAAs (1:52.27)‼️#JustGoOff pic.twitter.com/IEsriDmO1z
— UNLV Swim & Dive (@UNLV_Swim_Dive) March 29, 2025

This wraps up an outstanding career for the star senior, who has proven to be one of the greatest swimmers in school history. It concludes a strong year for the UNLV swimming and diving team. A year in which Nicusan helped lead the Rebels to a fifth-straight WAC championship. Being that he is a senior, the program will now have to look forward and move on without him. They will have to figure out a way to continue having success without their star swimmer.

We don't anticipate that being an issue when you consider the extended success this program has had, as well as the confidence they have in head coach Pat Ota. The cupboard is far from bare and includes young stars like sophomore diver Alex Vazquez, who also participated in the NCAA Championships this weekend. He finished in 25th place in the 1-meter dive with a score of 322.40, which was also the best finish ever by a UNLV diver.

After what we saw in the 2025 WAC Swimming and Diving Championships as well as the 2025 NCAA Championships, the UNLV Rebels men's swimming and diving team looks set to dominate for years to come.

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