LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. (Feb. 27, 2026) – Head Coach
Michael Jafari and his staff have been recognized as the SCIAC Male Coaching Staff of the Year for the 2025-26 season.
Jafari, along with Assistant Head Coach
Jeff Natalizio and Graduate Assistant
Jacky Setlitch, played an instrumental role in the recruitment and development of this year's Whittier men's roster. For the first time in recent history, the Poets took fifth in the final SCIAC standings, scoring 352.5 points to slot in ahead of Caltech. In addition to that, Jafari and his staff had several swimmers find the podium, and in some cases sent multiple swimmers to the podium in a single event. Junior transfer
Honza Zika (Prague, Czech Republic / Tesoro Indiana University | University of Hawaii) won the men's 400 IM and 200 Fly, re-setting two of his three individual Whittier records in the process. Sophomore
Jakab M.Kiss (Budapest, Hungary / BME International Secondary Grammar School / Golden West College), who posted the second-fastest 400 IM time in school history, joined Zika on the podium in Zika's signature event.
Additionally, junior
Thomas Langlois (Haut-Richelieu, QC, Canada / St. John's) twice picked up the silver in the men's 500 Free and 1650 Free, tailed in third in the latter event by freshman teammate
Zeke Garzon, one of the conference's many prolific rookie swimmers this year. Former SCIAC Athlete of the Week
Connor Rocha (Paso Robles, Calif. / Paso Robles / Cuesta College) also stood out as a finalist in the 50 Free.
Zika and Langlois are currently in preparation for the 2026 Division III Championships, set to take place over four days beginning on Wednesday, Mar. 18 in Bloomington, Ind.
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