The William & Mary swimming teams open their 2017-18 season this weekend, hosting Johns Hopkins on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Rec Center Pool. Admission is free of charge, and the meet can be followed via live results through TribeAthletics.com.
Meet Format
The teams will swim a full 14-event slate, including the 200 medley relay and 400 free relay; 50, 100, 200, 500, and 1000 free; 100 and 200 of all three strokes, and the 200 IM.
Scouting the Tribe Women
The W&M women's team are the two-time defending CAA Champions, and replaced several deep losses to graduation with an equally impressive freshman class. The top returning veterans include senior
Abby Mack (Wayne, Pa.), the CAA Champion in the 200 fly last year, as well as junior
Morgan Smith (Verona, N.J.), who was the 2016 champion in the 1,650 free. Other top returners include school record-holders
Jess Crowley (Acton, Mass.),
Annie Valls (Miami, Fla.), and
Claire Williams (Apex, N.C.), as well as three-quarters of the championship-winning and record-setting 200 free relay from last spring in
Katie Sell (Fredericksburg, Va.),
Emma Herold (Kohler, Wisc.), and
Annie Miller (Houston, Texas).
Scouting the Tribe Men
W&M's men's team are also the defending conference champions, in this case winners of three-straight Colonial Athletic Association titles. Despite losing several top athletes to graduation, the Tribe still returns 14 of 22 gold medalists from last spring, including reigning Rookie of the Year and five-time CAA Champion
Colin Wright (Williamsburg, Va.), whose school-record 19.62 in the 50 free ranks him top-20 all-time in the USA Swimming 18-and-under age group. Other returning champions include junior
Carter Kale (Williamsburg, Va.), winner of the 500 and 1,650 free (the latter in a school-record 15:20.04), as well as sophomore
Chris Balbo (Short Hills, N.J.), the 400 IM champion who also set the W&M dual-meet records in the 500, 1000, and 1,650 free.
Scouting the Blue Jays
Johns Hopkins is coming off a pair of top-10 finishes at the NCAA Division III Championships last spring. The women's team finished ninth nationally and return nine who earned All-American honors, including three of the four legs of the 200 medley relay and all four swimmers from the three free relays. The men's team, meanwhile, is coming off a fourth-place finish with another nine returning All-Americans. That includes the entirety of the 200 medley relay.
