The William and Mary men's swimming team added a third conference title to its haul Thursday night at the Colonial Athletic Association Championships, and another conference record to go with it as well.  After seven events, including one diving event that the Tribe did not participate in, W&M is in second place with 231 points, 35 behind defending champion UNCW.

Finals Results
Prelim Results

200 IM
In the 200 IM, senior Andrew Strait (Henrico, Va.) made history yet again with his seventh career CAA title, tying the all-time Tribe record set by George Collins '70 in the Southern Conference.  It was also Strait's fourth individual championship, tying him with Hall-of-Famers Ron Good '65 and Pete McIntosh '65 for the second-most ever (Collins, 5).  Strait's winning time of 1:46.59 broke his own school and conference records from earlier in the day, and re-qualified him for the NCAA Championships.

Also in the 200 IM, sophomore Will Manion (Haddonfield, N.J.) swam a lifetime-best 1:48.03 to earn the bronze medal and all-conference honors, the fourth-fastest time in school history.  Manion moved up to second all-time among Tribe athletes, behind only Strait.  Classmate Jeremiah O'Donnell (Chapel Hill, N.C.) was fourth in 1:49.63, the eighth-fastest time ever, and freshman Alex Montes de Oca (Orange, Va.) took fifth in 1:50.83, the 16th-best performance in school history.  Andrew Nyce (Vienna, Va.) gave W&M five in the top six with his sixth-place 1:51.28, a lifetime-best that improved him to fifth all-time among athletes, and Charley Bowles (Yorktown, Va.) was 11th overall in 1:52.39.

200 Free Relay
After the diving break, the Tribe jumped back in the pool in the 200 free relay.  Strait led off with a lifetime-best 20.54 50 free, the fourth-best race in school history, before handing off to Justin Barden (Gordonsville, Va.), Montes de Oca, and Risten Clarke (Chappaqua, N.Y.) in turn.  Both Barden and Clarke split 19.9 on their legs, helping propel the Tribe to a second-place finish in 1:20.98, the second-fastest time in school history and the best place since also taking second back in 2008.

500 Free
In the 500 free that started the evening, sophomore Ryan Natal (Great Falls, Va.) swam his second lifetime-best of the day to finish sixth in 4:31.24, an improvement in both place and time.  Natal now ranks eighth in school history in the event.  In the consolation heat, freshman Sean Higgins (Wilton, Conn.) swam 4:37.21 for 15th overall, just ahead of sophomore Lukas Dempsey (New Paltz, N.Y.) who was 16th in 4:38.89.

50 Free
The Tribe also had a championship finalist in the 50 free, where sophomore Billy Russell (Newport News, Va.) finished just off the podium in fourth place.  Russell touched the wall in 20.27 seconds, the second-fastest time ever behind only his prelim record of 20.14 seconds.  Clarke swam in the consolation heat, improving his seeding to finish 15th place in 21.07 seconds.

The CAA Championships resume on Friday morning, with prelims starting at 10 a.m.

2014 Colonial Athletic Association Swimming and Diving Championships
Team Standings
1. UNCW 266
2. William and Mary 231
3. Towson 218
4. Delaware 158
5. Drexel 150
6. College of Charleston 146