The William & Mary men's swimming team begins its quest for a third-straight Colonial Athletic Association Championship this weekend, traveling to the nation's capital for a tri-meet Saturday at Georgetown.  In addition to the host Hoyas, the Tribe will also compete against the Blue Jays of Johns Hopkins, with action starting at 1 p.m.

Scouting the Tribe
W&M set several conference records in winning its second team trophy last winter, and is favored to do so again despite losing the most successful class in school history to graduation.  The Tribe does return seven conference champions, led by senior Joe Eiden (White Plains, N.Y.), who won three titles last year.  He was the surprise winner in the 200 free, and also won as part of the Tribe's 200 and 400 free relays.  Junior Evan Baker (Chantilly, Va.) also has three gold medals to his credit, coming in the 100 fly as well as the 200 free relay and the 400 medley relay.

Junior Kyle Neri (Wallingford, Conn.) won a pair of gold medals on the 200 and 400 free relays last year, while senior Josh Zimmt (Barrington, R.I.) broke through with his first championship in the 100 breast.  His classmate Alex Henderson (Hopewell, Va.) is the sole returning champion out of the 800 free relay, the heir to a six-year run of conference championships for the Tribe.  In the distance races, sophomore Eric Grimes (Louisville, Ky.) won the 500 free as a rookie last year, and junior Conrad Zamparello (Midlothian, Va.) came through for the victory in the 1,650 free.

Scouting the Hoyas
Georgetown was the runner-up at the 2016 Big East Championships, and began the year last weekend with a loss to Delaware.  The Hoyas are being led by Jared Cooper-Vespa, who was the Big East Diver of the Year last season, as well as teammate Ryan Blom who was the Big East Rookie Diver of the Year.  In the pool, the 800 free relay of Daniel Ross, Henry Rogatz, Chandler Hinson, and Jacob Kohlhoff won the conference title last winter, the Hoyas' lone gold medal in the swimming events.

Scouting the Blue Jays
Johns Hopkins took fourth in the NCAA Division III Championships, and returns several top contributors.  That includes Andy Greenhalgh, the reigning CAA Champion in both the 500 and 1650 free, as well as Evan Holder, who earned the maximum seven All-American honors last season.  Mark Wilson is another top entry in the fly events, and was a five-time All-American a year ago.

The Series
- While W&M and Johns Hopkins have met several times in invitationals and training-trip scrimmages, this will be the first official dual-meet between the two schools since at least the 1965 campaign.

- The Tribe is 27-2 all-time against Georgetown since 1965, and has won the last nine in a row including 170-35 last year in Williamsburg.