The College of Staten Island recently completed what was their final turn through the City University of New York Athletic Conference in 2019-20, and will be fully integrated into the East Coast Conference with an NCAA Division II schedule in 2020-21.  Leaving behind a tremendous wake as one of the CUNYAC's founding members, day-by-day we will be looking back at each of CSI's programs, notably the CUNYAC Championship teams spanning over 40 years in our spring CUNYAC retrospective entitled, "Remember the Legacy."  This historical look back will chronicle the amazing achievements of CSI athletics programs, complete with championships, milestones, and amazing performances.

Our next sport spotlighted will be Men's Swimming & Diving, a program that has claimed eight CUNYAC titles since the CUNYAC adopted a Championship for the sport following the 2001-02 season.  

THE START

The College of Staten Island started their Division III foray in time for the 1977-78 season, but to swim and dive, you need a pool, and CSI didn't have one to call their own until the move to Willowbrook in 1995-96.  It took some time to get established, but the college was excited about offering the sports and did so as Club Sports that season, kicking off official varsity play in 1996-97 as other CUNYAC sides came aboard to officially introduce conference-wide play in 1999-00.  Still, as per the CUNYAC, the women's side of swimming and diving got established before the men's side, and it wasn't until the 2001-02 season that the CUNYAC started sponsoring a postseason championship meet.  By then the Dolphins had an established side that was creating waves and setting the tone for a great run through the years.

THE FIRSTS (AS AN OFFICIAL CUNYAC MEMBER)...
First Meet:  October 28, 1999 vs. William Paterson - the Pioneers defeated the Dolphins. 122-84, at the Sports & Recreation Center
First CUNYAC Meet:  November 11, 1999 at John Jay College, CSI defeated the Bloodhounds, 53-47
First Win:  November 5, 1999 - CSI defeated Manhattanville College in what was also their first road victory, 122-70
First Home Win: November 30, 1999 - CSI defeated SUNY-Maritime in a tight, 119-117, affair
First Coach: Oleg Soloviev, who started the varsity program in 1996 was with the program until the 2011-12 season

NAVIGATING THE WATERS 1999-2001
The College of Staten Island moved locations from Sunnyside to Willowbrook in 1994, and the athletics program moved over a year later.  One of the new jewels of CSI's facility was the pool.  Originally slated to be a 50-meter pool, plans were cut short, and the 25-meter pool that sits at CSI now was the result.  CSI hired Oleg Soloviev to be their debut coach in 1995, and so by 1999, CSI had an established presence in the conference, ironically defeating John Jay College, which no longer sponsors a men's team, in their CUNYAC debut, 53-47, in 1999, before falling to Lehman College in their only other CUNYAC test that year.  Still, CSI finished 6-2 that year, and finished 8th at the Metropolitan Swimming & Diving Championships, their only postseason opportunity.  A year later, CSI continued the pace, avenging that loss to Lehman College, and then adding another against Brooklyn College, that had added a men's side, to finish 3-0 in the CUNYAC with a 6-3 overall mark in tow.  CSI finished 13th in the crowded Metro field this time around, but many figured they would be the clear favorite when the CUNYAC would add a Postseason Championship Meet the following year.

SETTING THE TONE - 2001-2015

The Dolphins didn't just maintain the CUNYAC pace those first few seasons within the conference, they owned it.  For four seasons, from 2001-05, the Dolphins went just about untouched, finishing a combined 14-0 during the regular season in the CUNYAC, and winning the postseason title all four years.  In 2001-02, the Dolphins went 4-2 overall, and after taking first in the CUNYAC meet, raced to a seventh place finish at Metros, their highest faring to that point.  The Dolphins were led by standouts Eugene Kagan Eugene Glebov, and Allan Kok, and CSI won that initial championship by 191.5 points, one of the highest margins of victory of all time.

In 2002-03, CSI continued to build on their laurels.  They sported a 5-0 home meet record that year and finished 7-2 overall, again skating by the competition at the CUNYAC Postseason Championship, which now featured five teams, with York College joining the fold.  The season included wins over Division II sides New Jersey Institute of Technology and Adelphi University.

CSI's unit continued the roll in 2003-04.  The unit had a modest 4-2 regular season finish, but all four wins were against CUNYAC sides en route to their third-consecutive postseason title, as CSI won the meet by 194 points.  That same moxie followed them into the 2004-05 season, as CSI was able to win the title going way against a smaller field as Brooklyn College disbanded their program, leaving the CUNYAC down to just four teams.  CSI would finish 11th at Metros as well that year, led by the likes of Vladomir Fedosseev, Terry Downing and diver Adam Lazatin. 

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY - 2005-2009

CSI's CUNYAC Championship run ended after four years, and from 2005 through 2009, CSI had to endure the frustrations associated with four-straight second-place finishes.  The pocket of time was a matter of quality over quantity.  In time for the Championship in each of those years, CSI was still winning a bevvy of top finishes and claiming records, many by swimmers like Yury Viknevich, Nick Levintov, and Eros Qama, but because of marginally lower roster numbers, the depth of Lehman College got the better of them in each of those years, and the Lightning were able to equal CSI's run of dominance in those years come Championship time.  During the regular season, however, CSI remained dominant.  In 2005-06, CSI finished the season unbeaten at 9-0, 3-0 in the CUNYAC, defeating Lehman head-to-head, 129-108.  The following year, CSI went 6-1 overall and remained unbeaten in conference play, and in 2007-08, CSI finished 7-1 overall, the lone loss coming to Lehman, their first head-to-head loss to a CUNYAC team since 1999-00.  Again, CSI took second at the Championship.  In 2008-09, similar fate held for CSI, despite a 10-1 regular season and another undefeated run against conference teams.

THE HIGHS & LOWS - 2006-2012
Unmistakable highs and lows followed the Dolphins from 2006-2011.  CSI was still boasting the quality as a collection of new international recruits dominated the scene at CSI, regionally, and nationally over the next four years.  Pavel Buyanov, a NCAA national champion in the breaststroke competition broke just about every record in school history and was buoyed by Nikolay Shevchenko, Vladislav Romanov, and later, Danila Novikov, Timur Rakhimov, and Andrey Tarasov.  In 2011, however, CSI had to vacate many of the wins, championships (although CSI never did win a CUNYAC Championship over this stretch), and records that were set, as CSI was cited for lack of institutional control with respect to the men's swimming program by the NCAA.  The collection of athletes continued to excel in the pool as the college worked towards stricter compliance measures for the future, but it did leave the program back at square one, looking to rebuild their legacy and form.

 

BACK ON TOP 2013-2017
It didn't take long for CSI to pick up the pieces and become one of the CUNYAC's premier programs again.  In December, 2011, Michael Ackalitis inherited the program, and despite a tough start, going 2-5 overall and 1-3 inside the CUNYAC in 2012-13, CSI laid the groundwork for a great run that would follow.  The centerpieces to that movement were recruits Timothy Sweeney and Derek Villa, who added to standouts Novikov, Tarasov, Rakhimov, and Yury Zimarev, proved too much for the competition as CSI raced away to a Championship for the first time in eight years. in 2013-14  CSI finished 8-3 overall, with diver John Pignatelli also standing out on a team that would sweep diving awards at the meet.

The team stayed true to form in 2014-15.  Ramping up the schedule, CSI finished 6-4 overall, but were able to avenge a 35-point loss to Baruch during the regular season by winning that Championship meet by 95 points as Sweeney took the first of three solo CUNYAC Championship MVP Awards, ultimately accumulating eight solo CSI records.  Back on the scene at the Metropolitan Swimming & Diving Championships, CSI placed 9th in the vast field and records continued to fall.

In 2015-16, and 2016-17, top-heavy CSI still proved to be too much to overcome in the CUNYAC.  The Dolphins swept nearly every first-place finish at the CUNYAC Championships in that span, and won the CUNYAC titles again those years.  In 2015-16, the Dolphins won by 68 points, then posting quality finishes at both Metros and the ECAC Open Championship in the following weeks.  One year later, CSI won their final CUNYAC crown, dodging Lehman College in what was the closest meet in CUNYAC history, decided by just 2.5 points.  CSI finished 8-2 overall, 4-0 in the CUNYAC and raced to 9th and 18th-place finishes at the Metros and ECAC's respectively the following weeks.

MAKING THE DII SHIFT 2017-2020

The loss of a heavy senior class in 2017, meant a rebuild in time for the 2017-18 season for the Dolphins, but rebuilds at CSI aren't like others it seems, as CSI has still found itself consistently at the top year after year.  In their final two turns in the CUNYAC Championship Meet, the Dolphins placed second to Baruch College (CSI did not participate in the CUNYAC Championship in 2019-20).  The run has been unprecedented all told.  In CSI's 20 years of CUNYAC representation at the postseason championship they accumulated eight championships and six second-place finishes.  They now embark on a promising future in NCAA Division II.  Although the East Coast Conference does not support swimming and diving as a championship sport, the Dolphins will officially carry a torch in the Metropolitan Swim Conference along with a handful of Division II teams, of which Head Coach Michael Ackalitis serves as President of.  Guided by stars such as Michael Stora, newcomer Chris Ivanov and diver Xavier Nicholson, more records could fall in the near future.

REMEMBER THE LEGACY
First Season: 1996-97 (1999-00 as part of CUNYAC)
All-Time Record: 124-54-1 (.693)
All-Time CUNYAC Record: 48-9 (.842)*
CUNYAC Postseason Championships: 8 - 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
* - CSI's CUNYAC records were vacated between 2006-2010

Cover Photo from left to right:  Eros Qama, Vladislav Romanov, Timothy Sweeney