Tribe Men’s Swimming Opens CAA Title Defense on Wednesday

The William & Mary men’s swimming team won its first Colonial Athletic Association Championship last year, and begins its quest for a second in a row this week at the Collegiate School Aquatic Center in Richmond, Va. Action begins Wednesday night with the 200 medley relay and the 800 free relay, and continues throughSaturday with prelims at 10 a.m. and finals at 6:00 p.m. each day. Fans can follow the meet results either on the Meet Mobile app, or through live results on the web at CAASports.com. The conference will also be streaming the meet live on CAA.tv. Wednesday – Finals 6:00 p.m. 200 medley relay, 800 free relay Thursday – Prelims 10 a.m., Finals 6:00 p.m. 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, 200 free relay Friday – Prelims 10 a.m., Finals 6:00 p.m. 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back, 400 medley relay Saturday – Prelims 10 a.m., Finals 6:00 p.m. 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, 1650 free, 400 free relay Let the Chase Begin After last weekend’s diving events, the Tribe will have to make up ground on all four opponents. In 2015, W&M made up a gap of 143 points and won by 185.5 points total, out-swimming the field by an average of 352.8 points. Scores After Diving 1. Drexel 107 2. UNCW 95 3. Delaware 66 4. Towson 12 5. W&M 0 Max Power While a championship is the ultimate goal, regardless of how many or how few points it takes, W&M also has the secondary objective of trying to crack a few points records. The conference record for most points scored is 832, by the 1997 James Madison squad, while the NCAA record for a score-16 format is 1,129, by the 2008 Texas men. Three Out of Four Ain’t Bad With Evan Baker‘s win last year, the Tribe has claimed Rookie of the Year honors in three of the last four seasons. The only other CAA team to accomplish that feat was American, who recruited the top freshman in 1998, 2000, and 2001. Turn it up to 11 This year for the first time, the CAA will host a 50m LCM time-trial day on Sunday following the championships. This meet will allow athletes an opportunity to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Trials, and possibly also the NCAA Championships. The Tribe will have about 20 athletes staying over for the LCM day. 200 Medley Relay Preview W&M is the defending champion in the 200 medley relay, and brings back 3/4 of the team that just missed the conference record of 1:27.40 last year. The Tribe has the top seed at 1:29.91 this year, almost 1.5 seconds faster than they were seeded in 2015, while UNCW and Drexel are a close second and third at 1:30.55 and 1:30.73. 800 Free Relay Preview W&M hasn’t lost the 800 free relay in five years, setting a conference-record last year at 6:31.07. All but one athlete returns off that squad, leading to a top-seeded mark of 6:40.87 (four seconds ahead of last year’s seed). Drexel, Delaware, and UNCW are all log-jammed together with seed times between 6:49.53 and 6:49.94. 500 Free Preview Drexel’s Ivo Pejovic has been the league’s top swimmer in the 500 free this year, and comes in with a top time of 4:33.90. Just behind him is UNCW junior Alex Sabau, while Drexel’s Zoltan Gercsak is seeded third at 4:34.18. The Tribe has three men seeded in the top eight. 200 IM Preview W&M swept the top three spots in the 200 IM last year, and could do it again and ever more with 10 of the top-12 entry times on the psych sheet. Defending champion and CAA Swimmer of the Year Jeremiah O’Donnel is again the top entrant at 1:49.70, and set the CAA record last year in 1:46.38. Will Manion and Alex Montes de Oca were second and third in 2015, and are seeded likewise this season. The top non-W&M entry is Delaware’s Alex Hillsley, at 1:53.12 (fifth). 50 Free Preview The fastest race of the week could also be the most competitive, with W&M senior Billy Russell and Drexel senior Joel Berryman entered at 20.65 and 20.80. Berryman is the defending champ, and swam an LCM that converts to 20.34 at Winter Nationals. W&M’sEvan Baker and Towson’s Matt Hans are seeded third and fourth, at 20.95 and 20.97 seconds. 200 Free Relay Preview The 200 free relay could either be a confirmation of the 50 free, or a reversal, with W&M and Drexel seeded 1-2 in 1:22.36 and 1:22.64. Last year it was the Dragons with the win by .02 over matching times from both the Tribe and Delaware (seeded third in 1:23.56). W&M has never won the 200 free relay, the only relay it hasn’t won before. 400 IM Preview Jeremiah O’Donnell is again the top seed in the 400 IM, where he set the meet record at 3:48.84 last year. This season he’s seeded at 3:57.32, ahead of sophomore teammates Brett Barden (3:59.69) and Conrad Zamparello (4:00.25). Delaware’s Cory Camp is seeded well back at 4:07.91, but swam a 3:50 last year to take the silver medal. 100 Fly Preview W&M senior Justin Barden is the two-time defending champ in the 100 fly, tying for the top spot last year at 47.55, but is only seeded sixth coming into this week. The top spot belongs to UNCW’s Zack Sowers at 48.44 seconds, just .02 ahead of W&M’s Evan Bakerwho was the CAA Rookie of the Year. Drexel’s Kyls Lukens was the bronze-medalist a year ago and is seeded fourth, while Towson’s Jack Saunderson is seeded third. 200 Free Preview The Tribe has the only two sub-1:40 entries this week in Billy Russell (1:39.51) and Joe Eiden (1:39.64), while Drexel’s Ivo Pejovic has gone 1:41.08. Russell won this event in 2014, and Towson’s Dominic Breschi is the returning champ at 1:37.88. 100 Breast Preview W&M’s Jeremiah O’Donnell is the top seed in the 100 breast this season at 55.79, leading to an interesting question as to which event he swims Friday between the 400 IM and this one. If he opts for the longer event, the top entry time goes to UNCW’s Will Ryan at 56.45, a transfer from Charleston who was third a year ago. Tribe senior Andrew Nyce is entered at 56.85, and Drexel rookie Ralph Cannarozzi is right behind him at 56.89. W&M junior Josh Zimmt swam a converted 54.75 at Winter Nationals. 100 Back Preview W&M senior Will Manion was second last year after winning the 100 back in 2013 and 2014, losing only to the conference record-setter. He’s the top seed this season at 48.47 ahead of Drexel’s Berryman, with Tad Spence of UNCW seeded third at 49.84 seconds. 400 Medley Relay Preview The 400 medley relay sees W&M entered three seconds clear of the field at 3:16.95, but the Tribe only brings back Manion andJustin Barden off the team that set the CAA record last year. UNCW is picked second at 3:19, and Towson third in 3:22. 1650 Free Preview Drexel’s Zoltan Gercsak is the only entered swimmer under 16 minutes this season at 15:59.23, but four of last season’s top-eight return including silver medalist Cory Camp of Delaware. The Blue Hens also have the second-seed in Patric Savidge, while W&M has three in the top seven entries led by Tommy Kealy. 200 Back Preview The Tribe’s Will Manion has won two in a row in the 200 back, and is undefeated in college races this season. He’s the top seed by more than a second at 1:47.43, ahead of freshman teammate Joey Rento (1:48.79). W&M has the top five entries all under 1:50, while UNCW’s Tad Spence is the top non-W&M entry at 1:50.47. 100 Free Preview Berryman and Russell go back at in the 100 free, with Russell entered just ahead at 44.99 to 45.18. Berryman won the race last year, and bronze medalist Matt Hans of Towson is also back. W&M has the third- and fourth-seeds as well in Joe Eiden and Kyle Neri. 200 Breast Preview W&M’s Jeremiah O’Donnell‘s fourth entry is another top mark, seeded almost four seconds ahead of the field in 2:00.16. Teammate Josh Zimmt is predicted second at 2:04.06, and UNCW’s Will Bryan is seeded third at 2:04.15, the same order the three finished last year. 200 Fly Preview The Tribe has the top two entries in the 200 fly thanks to Evan Baker (1:48.38) and Tommy Kealy, but two-time defending champ Matt McKenney of Towson is the conference record-holder and seeded third at 1:49.38. 400 Free Relay Preview W&M won this race last year in 2:56.94, but needs to replace its back half in order to defend. The Tribe is seeded first at 3:01.05, more than two seconds ahead of Delaware and Drexel, and two seconds ahead of last year’s entry time as well.

Swimming news courtesy of William & Mary Swimming & Diving.