The William & Mary men's swimming team won its fifth-straight Colonial Athletic Association Championship on Saturday night, adding four more event titles and two conference records to secure the win.  The Tribe scored 925.5 points to out-distance the field, with Drexel second at 692 points and UNCW in third with 619.5 points.  Towson was fourth overall with 533 points, and Delaware rounded out the field with 195 points for fifth.

W&M Director of Swimming Matt Crispino '02 was named the Men's Swimming Coach of the Year for the sixth year in a row, tying the all-time conference record originally set by UNCW's Dave Allen from 2008-13.  This week, W&M scored the fourth-most points in conference history, and the 12 titles won is the third-highest total in a single year ever in the CAA.  W&M has won 10 or more championships in five of the last six years, nearly half of all 10+ win years (11) in conference history and the most by any one school.

Junior Colin Wright (Williamsburg, Va.) was named the Outstanding Swimmer of the Championships, after turning in one of the CAA's all-time great championship performances.  Wright swept the 50, 100, and 200 freestyles and also swam on four winning relays, becoming just the fourth swimmer in conference history to win the maximum number of championships, seven, in a single meet and the first since 2006.  He set school records in each of his individual events, and also set the CAA Championship and overall records in both the 50 and 100 free.  Wright is the fourth from W&M to win Swimmer of the Championships, and the first since 2015.  His sweep of the sprint freestyles is just the second time in CAA history that anyone has won all three events, joining Brent Holsten of Richmond in 1994, and he also moved into third place in conference history with 17 total championships won.  Only James Madison's Mark Gabriele '95, with 22, and the Dukes' Ryan Frost '97, with 18, have ever won more.

W&M swept the five relays for the second year in a row, after becoming the first team to ever achieve that feat last year.  Dating back to the 2017 championships, the Tribe has now won the last 11 relay titles, and this week broke the conference record in the 200 medley, 200 free, 400 medley, and 400 free relays.  W&M now owns the conference record in all five relays.

1,650 Free
- Starting the session off was the 1,650 free, where senior Carter Kale (Williamsburg, Va.) won his third consecutive title with a season-best 15:22.91.  That was an NCAA provisional qualifier, and the third-fastest time ever swum at W&M.  At the 1,000-yard split, his time of 9:25.62 was the 12th-fastest race in school history.  Kale is just the sixth man in school history to win the same event three years in a row.
- Junior Chris Balbo (Short Hills, N.J.) was right behind his teammate, finishing second overall in a lifetime-best 15:26.43.  That was the fifth-fastest race ever at W&M, and ranks Balbo third in school history.  His 1,000-yard split was a season-best, and the seventh-best time ever.
 

Place	Athlete	Time	Notes	1,000 Split	Notes
1.	Carter Kale	15:22.91	Champion, NCAA Provisional, SB, #3 perf	9:25.62	#12 perf
2.	Chris Balbo	15:26.43	All-CAA, PB, #5 perf, #3 ath	9:24.01	SB, #7 perf

200 Back
- In the 200 back, sophomore Jake Kealy (Wilton, Conn.) earned all-conference honors for the second year in a row, and finished second in 1:45.67.  That was the 10th-fastest race ever at W&M.
- Junior Lee Bradley (Crestwood, Ky.) also swam his way onto the podium, placing third in 1:47.10 for all-conference honors.
- Also in the championship final was senior Joey Rento (Newport News, Va.), who placed fifth in 1:49.23, as well as freshman Jack Galbraith (Vienna, Va.), eighth in 1:51.45.
- Junior Colin Demers (Virginia Beach, Va.) placed 10th in the consolation finals, swimming a season-fast 1:50.90.
 

Place	Athlete	Time	Notes
2.	Jake Kealy	1:45.67	#10 perf
3.	Lee Bradley	1:47.10
5.	Joey Rento	1:49.23
8.	Jack Galbraith	1:51.45
10.	Colin Demers	1:50.90	SB

100 Free
- Wright already broke the conference and school records in the prelims, swimming 42.95 this morning, and in the finals, he brought the crowd to its feet when he touched the wall in 42.63 seconds, thoroughly obliterating the school and conference records once again.  He also broke the pool record by a third of a second, and his time puts him on the bubble for NCAA selection as one of the top-25 times in the country in the 100 free.  If Wright does get invited to NCAAs, he'd be the first to make the national meet from W&M since Shawn McLane '86 qualified in the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events in both 1985 and 1986.
- In addition to McLane, only three other men from W&M have ever qualified for NCAAs.  Leonard Goldberg '39 in the breaststroke and Johnny Adams '39 in diving both competed at the 1938 national championships, and in 1963, Ron Good '65 represented the Green and Gold in both the 50 free and the 100 free.
- Junior Ian Thompson (Alexandria, Va.) finished fourth overall in 44.51 seconds, the 16th-fastest time in school history, and senior Eric Grimes (Louisville, Ky.) swam a lifetime-best 44.88 for sixth overall.  That improved Grimes to ninth among Tribe athletes.
- Sophomore Christopher Pfuhl (Charlotte, N.C.) rounded out the championship section, placing eighth in 45.81 seconds.
- In the consolation finals, redshirt-senior Evan Baker (Chantilly, Va.) brought his career to a close by placing 11th overall in 45.72 seconds.
 

Place	Athlete	Time	Notes
1.	Colin Wright	42.63	CAA Record, School Record, Pool Record NCAA Provisional
4.	Ian Thompson	44.51	#16 perf
6.	Eric Grimes	44.88	PB, #9 ath
8.	Christopher Pfuhl	45.81
11.	Evan Baker	45.72

200 Breast
- Senior Brooks Peterson (Carrollton, Va.) has done nothing but improve over the course of his career, capped off with a spectacular race to win gold in the 200 breast.  He was eighth at the first turn, last place, and then kept working and improving.  At the 100, he was seventh, and at the 150, he was third, and he kept improving.  Over the final 50 yards, and especially the final 25-yard sprint, Peterson kept churning and reached the wall first in a lifetime-best 1:59.70, out-touching second place by 0.01 seconds.  That was the 15th-best single race in school history, and moves Peterson up to fifth all-time among Tribe athletes.
- Junior Ben Skopic (Marriottsville, Md.) also earned all-conference honors, placing third in 2:00.09, and his classmate Ian Bidwell (Pelham, N.Y.) was fourth with a lifetime-best 2:00.52, good for sixth in school history.
- In the consolation finals, sophomore Devin McNulty (Herndon, Va.) made a big move, going from the final qualifying spot in prelims to winning the consolation finals in ninth place overall with a season-best time of 2:02.05.
- Freshman Ryan Bebel (Westfield, N.J.) finished right behind McNulty in 10th place, touching the wall in 2:02.42.
 

Place	Athlete	Time	Notes
1.	Brooks Peterson	1:59.70	PB, #15 perf, #5 ath
3.	Ben Skopic	2:00.09
4.	Ian Bidwell	2:00.52	PB, #6 ath
9.	Devin McNulty	2:02.05	SB
10.	Ryan Bebel	2:02.42

200 Fly
- The final individual event of the meet was the 200 fly, where freshman Steven Thalblum (Ashburn, Va.) led the way with his seventh-place time of 1:49.24.
- Junior Jack Doherty (Middletown, Conn.) swam 1:49.26 for eighth overall, and senior Joey Rento (Newport News, Va.) wrapped up his career in 1:51.94 for 12th overall.
 

Place	Athlete	Time	Notes
7.	Steven Thalblum	1:49.24
8.	Jack Doherty	1:49.26
12.	Joey Rento	1:51.94

400 Free Relay
The final race of the meet was the 400 free relay, and with the team title already locked up, W&M put the exclamation point on the week by winning the event and shattering its own conference and school records.  Wright led off in 42.97, the third-fastest 100 free of the day and in school history, and handed off to Thompson with the lead.  Thompson split 44.09, fastest of the second leg to extend the lead for Pfuhl, who also led the race with his 44.60, before the senior Grimes brought the gold medal home with 44.26 split and a total time of 2:55.92.  That was more than half a second faster than the conference record the Tribe set last year at 2:56.51.

William & Mary still has several post-season opportunities coming up in the next month.  Next weekend is the ECAC Championships, being hosted by Navy March 1-3.  On the national level, the CSCAA National Invitational Championships are being held in Cleveland, Ohio March 14-16, and the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships will be held at the University of Texas March 27-30

2019 Colonial Athletic Association Men's Swimming & Diving Championships
Final Team Standings
1. William & Mary 925.5
2. Drexel 692
3. UNCW 619.5
4. Towson 533
5. Delaware 195

Swimming Coach of the Year: Matt Crispino, W&M
Diving Coach of the Year: Ryan Hunt, Towson
Outstanding Swimmer of the Championships: Colin Wright, W&M
Outstanding Diver of the Championships: Will Canny, Towson