FAIRMONT, W.Va. — The Mountain East Conference announced Monday the winners of this week’s Swimmer of the Week awards. The weekly awards are presented by The Health Plan.
 
Wheeling’s Nikola Zhekov is the MEC Men’s Swimmer of the Week, while Frostburg State’s Jayme Meadows is the MEC Women’s Swimmer of the Week. 
 
Zhekov, a freshman from Varna, Bulgaria, led the Cardinals men's swimming team to a tri-meet sweep over Frostburg State and West Virginia Wesleyan. Zhekov would pick up three first place finishes on the day, including two individual wins. He would swim the 50-Yard Freestyle, swimming a time of 22.26 to take the gold while the 100-Yard Breaststroke would see him swim a time of 1:00.32 for the gold. He would round out his day as the anchor leg of the 400-Yard Medley Relay team taking his final gold.
 
Meadows, a graduate student from Cross Lanes, West Virginia, helped the Bobcats to defeat Wheeling and WV Wesleyan during their Saturday tri-meet, picking up three total victories. She recorded individual wins in both the 50-yard freestyle (25.77) and the 100-yard free (55.99), while also contributing to a relay victory in the 400-yard medley (4:13.47).
 
2026 MEC MEN’S SWIMMER OF THE WEEK
9/28: Emanuele Lugo, Wheeling 
10/5: Dylan Tomas, Fairmont State 
10/12: Kikola Zhekov, Wheeling
 
2026 MEC WOMEN’S SWIMMER OF THE WEEK
9/28: Viktoriia Dranytska, Fairmont State
10/5: Viktoriia Dranytska, Fairmont State 
10/12: Jayme Meadows, Frostburg State