The William & Mary men's swimming team knew it had the chance to score a lot of points on Thursday night at the Colonial Athletic Association Championships, and lived up to those expectations en route to the night two lead with two conference records and three school records spread among six all-conference performances. The Tribe has 312 points after seven events, 76 ahead of second-place Drexel with UNCW in third at 218.
500 Free
- Starting the night off was the 500 free, where senior
Carter Kale (Williamsburg, Va.) made a strong charge down over the last few laps to finish second overall in a season-fast 4:25.55. That was the eighth-fastest race in school history, and gave Kale his second-straight silver in the event and third All-CAA award in three years.
- Right behind him to also earn all-conference honors was junior
Chris Balbo (Short Hills, N.J.), third in a lifetime-best 4:26.39. That was the ninth-fastest race ever at W&M, and moves Balbo up to fourth all-time among Tribe athletes. It was also Balbo's first all-conference performance in the 500 free.
- Sophomore
Christopher Pfuhl (Charlotte, N.C.) was fourth overall in 4:28.15, and senior
Eric Grimes (Louisville, Ky.) swam a season-best time, stopping the clock in 4:29 flat for fifth overall.
- Rounding out the line-up was junior
Ian Bidwell (Pelham, N.Y.), who took seventh overall in 4:30.85.
200 IM
- In the 200 IM, junior
Ben Skopic (Marriottsville, Md.) broke his own school record in 1:46.20, and moved up from a year ago to earn all-conference honors in second place after taking third in 2018. Skopic's performance was also an NCAA provisional qualifier.
- Fellow junior
Lee Bradley (Crestwood, Ky.) swam his second lifetime-best of the day to take fourth overall, stopping the clock in 1:49.68 to break 1:50 for the first time. Bradley now ranks eighth all-time among Tribe athletes in the event.
- Also in the championship final was sophomore
Jake Kealy (Wilton, Conn.), sixth in 1:50.82, and freshman
Steven Thalblum (Ashburn, Va.) who was seventh in 1:51.34.
- Another standout rookie of the Tribe,
Kade Younger (Newport News, Va.), was 16th overall in the consolation finals, timing 1:53.54 to finish just off his season-best time from the prelims.
50 Free
- In the 50 free, junior
Colin Wright (Williamsburg, Va.) became the fastest man in conference history while winning his third-straight championship, touching the wall in a blistering 19.57 seconds. In addition to being an NCAA Provisional qualifier and breaking his own school record of 19.62 from two years ago, Wright's time also broke the meet record of 19.60, set in 2013, and the overall CAA record of 19.59 set by Dan Gallagher of UNCW at the 2002 NCAA Championships. Wright is just the third man to ever win the CAA 50 free three times, and fifth in school history to win any event three consecutive seasons.
- Also earning all-conference honors was junior
Jack Doherty (Middletown, Conn.), who took third overall in 19.91 seconds. That performance was another NCAA Provisional qualifier, and the eighth-fastest race in school history.
- Junior
Ian Thompson (Alexandria, Va.) swam a season-fast 20.27 seconds for sixth overall, and redshirt-senior
Evan Baker (Chantilly, Va.) rounded out the effort with a time of 20.71 for eighth place.
200 Free Relay
- W&M's four sprinters were back in action after the diving break for the 200 free relay, winning the Tribe's fourth-consecutive gold medal in the event. Wright led off in 19.63, the third-fastest time ever at W&M and yet another NCAA Provisional qualifier, before Thompson handled the second leg with a 19.78 split. The senior Baker took the third leg out in 20.08 seconds, and handed off to Doherty with a half-second lead on second-place UNCW. Doherty extended that margin even more, splitting 19.42 on the anchor to bring the Tribe home in 1:18.91, breaking its own conference and school records (set last year) by 0.04. In addition to being the Green and Gold's fourth win in a row in the 200 free relay, it was also the ninth-straight relay victory for W&M dating back to 2017. With his two wins tonight, Wright moved into a tie for sixth all-time in CAA history with 13 total gold medals (four individual, nine relay)
The CAA Championships continue on Friday at 10 a.m., with prelims in the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, and 100 back.
2019 CAA Men's Swimming & Diving Championships
Team Standings (7 of 20 events scored)
1. William & Mary 312
2. Drexel 236
3. UNCW 218
4. Towson 187
5. Delaware 55
