The William & Mary men's swimming team continued to assail the record books on Friday night the Colonial Athletic Association Championships, breaking three conference records across the six events.  The Tribe used the power of 21 scoring individual swims and four championship wins to move into the lead in the team standings, and leads UNCW 606.5 to 568 heading into the final day.

400 Individual Medley
Starting the night off was the 400 IM, and senior Ben Skopic (Marriottsville, Md.) carried through for the gold medal in 3:50.12, the fourth-fastest time in school history.  He is the first man to win both IM events at a single meet since the Tribe's Jeremiah O'Donnell '16 in 2016, and the first to win three- or more-straight CAA Championships in the 400 IM since George Mason's Preston Walter did it from 2009-12.  Right behind Skopic for second overall was his classmate Chris Balbo (Short Hills, N.J.), timing 3:51.07, the seventh-fastest race in school history.  Freshman Conor Sokolowsky (Williamsburg, Va.) moved up from prelims, timing a lifetime-best 3:57.99 to rank sxith overall, and improved to 14th all-time among Tribe athletes.  Freshman Noah Fields (Williamsburg, Va.) won the consolation finals in a personal-best 3:59.59 for ninth overall, and freshman Colby Mills (Chesterfield, Va.) was 13th in 4:06.59.

100 Butterfly
W&M kept the winning going in the 100 fly, as senior Jack Doherty (Middletown, Conn.) swam an NCAA provisional qualifying 47.21 seconds for the victory.  That was the sixth-fastest race ever at W&M, and the first individual gold for Doherty after starting his career with 10 relay wins.  Sophomore Steven Thalblum (Ashburn, Va.) was sixth in 48.65 seconds, and in the consolation finals, senior Ian Thompson (Alexandria, Va.) swam 48.97 seconds for 11th overall.  Sophomore Jack Galbraith (Vienna, Va.) matched his prelim time exactly, 49.24 seconds, and placed 13th.

200 Free
Senior Colin Wright (Williamsburg, Va.) won his eighth individual gold in conference-record fashion, swimming 1:35.04 to win the 200 free for the second year in a row.  That broke his own school record from the prelims, as well as the conference and championships record of 1:35.85 that had stood since 2010.  It was also an NCAA provisional qualifier.  Junior Christopher Pfuhl (Charlotte, N.C.) also made the podium, finishing third overall in 1:38.18, and freshman John O'Hara (Fredericksburg, Va.) was seventh in 1:39.67.  Sophomore Graham Hertweck (Greensboro, N.C.) won the consolation finals and placed ninth overall, with a lifetime-best performance of 1:39.54.  That ranks him 16th in school history among Tribe athletes.

100 Breaststroke
In the 100 breast, senior Ian Bidwell (Pelham, N.Y.) swam 54.99 seconds, tied for the 10th-fastest race in school history, and placed third overall to earn all-conference honors.  Freshman Flynn Crisci (Williamsburg, Va.) swam his second lifetime-best of the day to take fourth in 55.04 seconds, and also improved to fourth all-time among Tribe athletes.  His classmate Kyle Demers (Virginia Beach, Va.) and sophomore Ryan Bebel (Westfield, N.J.) both tied for sixth with a time of 55.41 seconds, which for Demers was another lifetime-best.  He now ranks 10th all-time at W&M.

100 Backstroke
Senior Colin Demers (Virginia Beach, Va.) broke not just his own school record (set in the prelims) but also the existing conference and meet records in the 100 back, but had to settle for second place with a time of 46.69 seconds.  He's the first man in school history to go under 47 seconds in the event, and swam an NCAA provisional qualifying mark.  Fellow senior Lee Bradley (Crestwood, Ky.) was fifth in 49.40 seconds, and Galbraith, swimming his second race of the night, turned in a lifetime-best swim of 49.52 seconds for sixth place.  That improved Galbraith to 10th all-time among Tribe athletes.  Junior Jake Kealy (Wilton, Conn.) won the consolation finals and placed ninth overall, stopping the clock in 49.89 seconds.

400 Medley Relay
After the diving break came the 400 medley relay.  The senior Demers led off, and in a reversal of the previous event, turned in the best 100 back split of the field and broke the brand-new conference record with his time of 46.43 seconds.  Bidwell was up next, splitting 54.11 seconds, and handed off in second place to Doherty, who put W&M in the lead for good with a punishing 47.48 butterfly split.  Wright was once again the anchor, and put the race out of reach, splitting 19.42 and 41.87, almost two seconds faster than anyone else, to bring the Tribe the gold in 3:09.89.

That broke the existing conference, meet, and school records of 3:11.06 set by W&M last year, and also broke the pool record of 3:10.90 set back in 2012 by N.C. State's ACC Champion relay.  The win was W&M's 15th-straight relay victory, dating back to 2017, and the sixth win for the Tribe in the last seven years in the 400 medley relay.  It was also a notable win for Wright, who tied JMU's Mark Gabriele '95 for the CAA's all-time record in championships with 22 gold medals, both men winning eight individual titles and a conference-record 14 relays.  With his fifth gold of the championships this week, Wright also became the first swimmer in CAA history to win five or more titles all four years of his career.  Doherty, meanwhile, moved into a tie for 10th in conference history with his 12th career title.

The Colonial Athletic Association Championships come to a close on Saturday.  Prelims in the 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, and 200 fly begin at 10 a.m., while the finals in the mile start at 3:30 p.m. and finals in all other events (including the 400 free relay) begin at 6 p.m.

2020 Colonial Athletic Association Men's Swimming & Diving Championships
Team Standings (14 of 20 events complete)
1. William & Mary 606.5
2. UNCW 568
3. Drexel 414
4. Towson 365.5
5. Delaware 210