The Valpo swimming program will be represented by five swimmers at the 2026 CSCAA National Invitational Championship, as Jackson Oostman (Aurora, Ill./Marmion Academy), Evan Curran (Golden, Colo./Golden), Gabriel Corkran (Avondale Estates, Ga./Druid Hills), Nate Bolinger (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) and Anthony Martin (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) are set to compete in the postseason. The three-day meet opens Thursday morning at the FAST Facility in Ocala, Fla.
 
Oostman qualified for this year's NIC, his second consecutive year swimming in the postseason, with his school-record 100 IM time of 51.15 at the MVC Championships — four-hundredths of a second faster than the CSCAA 'A' standard, earning him automatic qualification.
 
Swimmers who qualify automatically in one event may also enter other events in which they've met the CSCAA 'B' standard, and Oostman will swim three other events in addition to the 100 IM. The senior will attempt to better his own program record in the 400 IM, in which he swam a season-best time of 4:01.01 at the MVC Championships. He also looks to reclaim program records in the 50 back and 100 back — he swam respective season-best times of 23.80 and 50.33 in the two events at the mid-season Miami Invitational.
 
Curran, Corkran, Bolinger and Martin have combined to demolish the program's 800 free relay record this year. Entering the season, the school record for the 800 free relay sat at 6:51.07 — the quartet first smashed that record with a time of 6:42.33 at the Miami Invitational. Then, at last month's MVC Championships, they lowered the record by nearly three more seconds, touching the wall in 6:39.51 — a time which came in 27-hundredths of a second better than the CSCAA 'A' standard to earn the relay squad an automatic NIC berth.
 
Swimmers who qualify automatically as part of a relay squad may also swim individual events in which they've met the CSCAA 'B' standard, and three of the Beacons' four swimmers will take to the pool for an individual swim. Curran will compete in the 200 free with his qualifying time of 1:39.10 from the MVC Championships, good for second in program history. The program record holder in the 200 fly, Martin swam a season-best time of 1:52.16 at the MVC Championships. Corkran will join Oostman in competing in the 100 IM, as he swam a season-best time of 53.25 — sixth-fastest in program history — in the event at the Dan Ross Indiana Intercollegiate early in the season.
 
Action all three days begins with prelims at 8:30 a.m. CT, with event finals held starting at 5 p.m. CT. A live video stream will be available all three days, linked at ValpoAthletics.com.