SPRINGFIELD, MO – Following his record setting weekend at the House of Champions Invitational, freshman Antonio Thomas earned the first Mid-American Conference Swimmer of the Week award of his career, announced by the league Wednesday, Nov. 23.
 
The Fayetteville, Ark., native kicked off the weekend placing first in the 500-yard freestyle where he took first with a career and meet record-setting time of 4:22.87. His time achieved "B" standards, sits 30^th nationally and ranks first in the conference. Additionally, his performance ranks third on the Bear's all-time top-five list behind Caleb Schuermann and Miguel Davila.
 
On the final day of competition, the newcomer broke multiple records in the men's 1650yd free, recording a time of 15:04.50 in the event. Achieving his second "B" standard of the weekend, Thomas shattered the meet record (15:23.90) by 19.40 seconds and broke the school record set by Miguel Davila back in 2014.
 
His lifetime best in the 1650yd free leads the conference and ranks tenth on the national stage.  

The Bears return to the pool Friday, Dec. 2 for a conference matchup against Evansville, beginning at 4 p.m. The following day, the team will travel to Southern Illinois to take on the Salukis at 11 a.m. For more information on the Missouri State swimming and diving team visit www.missouristatebears.com or Twitter (MoStateSwim).