William & Mary senior Colin Wright (Williamsburg, Va.) added yet another top honor to his personal resume on Thursday, after he was voted by the Colonial Athletic Association as the 2020 Men's Swimmer of the Year.  The award was voted on by all of the league's head coaches.

Wright put the exclamation point on an outstanding four years for W&M this winter, leading the Tribe to its sixth-straight CAA team championship.  Wright was named the CAA Swimmer of the Meet for the second year in a row, after sweeping all seven of his events (three individual and four relay) for the second consecutive championship.  He is the only man in league history to win seven gold medals in a single week twice, and one of just four to ever do it even once.  Wright also set CAA records with his fourth-straight year of winning five championships or more in a single championships, and became the winningest champion overall in CAA history with 24 career titles and in relays, with 15 championships.  In 2020, W&M won a conference-record 14 event titles (out of 18 total swimming events), and swept all five relays for the third-straight season.
 
At the CAA Championships, Wright set the school and conference records in every event while leading W&M to its sixth-straight conference championship.  He won the 50 free, the 100 free, and the 200 free triple for the second year in a row.  His finals time in the 200 free of 1:35.04 broke the conference record, as did his prelim swim of 42.01 in the 100 free.  In the 50 free, he first broke the conference record with a 19.17 in the prelims, and then led-off the 200 free relay in 18.98 seconds, becoming just the fourth swimmer from outside the "Power 5" conferences to ever beat 19 seconds.  Based on the NCAA accepted entry list, Wright ranked fourth nationally this year in the 50 free, and eighth in the 100 free.  For the season, Wright led W&M with 439.5 points and 23 victories.  His point total was the third-most ever in a single season for the Tribe, while his 23 wins made one of just three men with multiple years of 23+ wins in their careers.  In his four years, Wright totaled 1,430.25 points, second-most in program history by less than 40 points, and his 75 wins rank fourth in school history.

Wright was invited to the NCAA Championships in both the 50 free and the 100 free this year, and would also have been able to swim the 200 free.  His was the first invitation for a Tribe men's swimmer since 1963, and just the seventh NCAA invite ever for W&M in men's or women's swimming and diving.  The last time William & Mary had a men's athlete at the national meet was three-time All-American diver Shawn McLane '86 in 1986, and the last NCAA invite for either team was Katie Radloff '10 at the 2010 women's championship.

This is the third time that a W&M swimmer has been named the CAA Swimmer of the Year, with Wright joining Andrew Strait '14 (2014) and Jeremiah O'Donnell '16 (2015) in that elite company.  Wright is also the first men's swimmer in program history to win all three major awards in his career, after claiming Rookie of the Year honors in 2017 and Swimmer of the Meet awards in both 2019 and 2020.

Also announced on Thursday was the All-CAA team, composed of the top three finishers or relay teams in each event at the CAA Championships.  Once again, W&M led the way, with nine men accounting for 36 total honors.

2020 Colonial Athletic Association Men's Swimming & Diving Awards
Swimmer of the Year - Colin Wright, W&M
Rookie Swimmer of the Year - Henderson Louviere, UNCW
Swimmer of the Championships - Colin Wright, W&M
Swimming Coach of the Year - Nate Kellogg, W&M

Diver of the Year - Kolbein Bjugan, UNCW
Rookie Diver of the Year - Kolbein Bjugan, UNCW
Diver of the Championships - Kolbein Bjugan, UNCW
Diving Coach of the Year - Beau Bunn, UNCW

All-Conference Team
50 Freestyle: Colin Wright, William & Mary (19.18); Jack Doherty, William & Mary (19.73); Matt Essing, Towson (19.75);
100 Freestyle: Colin Wright, William & Mary (42.19); Jack Doherty, William & Mary (43.39); Matt Essing, Towson (43.99)
200 Freestyle: Colin Wright, William & Mary (1:35.04); Stathis Malamas, Drexel (1:37.27); Christopher Pfuhl, William & Mary (1:38.18)
500 Freestyle: Chris Balbo, William & Mary (4:29.74); Ian Bidwell, William & Mary (4:30.45); Kevin Basch, Delaware (4:30.53)
1650 Freestyle: Chris Balbo, William & Mary (15:32.38); Kevin Basch, Delaware (15:42.30); Jake McBride, Drexel (15:44.66)
100 Butterfly: Jack Doherty, William & Mary (47.24); Paris Raptis, Drexel (47.43); Nick McClure, Towson (47.90)
200 Butterfly: Paris Raptis, Drexel (1:45.53); Nick McClure, Towson (1:45.71); Connor Forsythe, UNCW (1:47.48)
100 Breaststroke: Gianmichel D'Alessandro, UNCW (53.86); Josh Rigsbee, UNCW (54.15); Ian Bidwell, William & Mary (54.99)
200 Breaststroke: Ben Skopic, William & Mary (1:58.79); Gianmichel D'Alessandro, UNCW (2:00.20); Josh Rigsbee, UNCW (2:00.97)
100 Backstroke: Will Countie, UNCW (46.49); Colin Demers, William & Mary (46.69); Owen Robinson, Towson (48.22)
200 Backstroke: Jason Arthur, Drexel (1:43.88); Will Countie, UNCW (1:44.63); Owen Robinson, Towson (1:46.77)
200 Individual Medley: Ben Skopic, William & Mary (1:45.33); Jason Arthur, Drexel (1:46.44); Paris Raptis, Drexel (1:47.93)
400 Individual Medley: Ben Skopic, William & Mary (3:50.12); Chris Balbo, William & Mary (3:51.07); Jason Arthur, Drexel (3:51.65)
One-Meter Dive: Kolbein Bjugan, UNCW (285.45); Will Canny, Towson (275.95); Brett Palo, UNCW (272.55)
Three-Meter Dive: Kolbein Bjugan, UNCW (345.80); Will Canny, Towson (322.10); Trent Igoe, UNCW (308.15)
200 Freestyle Relay:
William & Mary (Colin Wright, Ian Thompson, Graham Hertweck, Jack Doherty) | 1:17.42
UNCW (Sean Cannon, Jack Cosgrove, Will Countie, Tom McGovern) | 1:19.38
Towson (Michael Fazio, Cody Stewart, Ryan Baldino, Matt Essing) | 1:19.71
400 Freestyle Relay:
William & Mary (Colin Wright, Christopher Pfuhl, Jack Doherty, Ian Thompson) | 2:54.07
Drexel (Kiran Richardson, Stathis Malamas, Dave Kneiss, Jason Arthur) | 2:56.80
Towson (Michael Fazio, Cody Stewart, Ryan Baldino, Matt Essing) | 2:57.59
800 Freestyle Relay:
William & Mary (Christopher Pfuhl, Colin Wright, Graham Hertweck, Ben Skopic) | 6:26.86
Drexel (Jason Arthur, Kevin Spear, Kiran Richardson, Stathis Malamas) | 6:33.53
UNCW (Jack Cosgrove, Avery Gambill, Aidan Snively, Mack Nesbit) | 6:36.46
200 Medley Relay:
William & Mary (Colin Demers, Ian Bidwell, Jack Doherty, Ian Thompson) | 1:25.52
UNCW (Will Countie, Gianmichel D'Alessandro, Henderson Louviere, Sean Cannon) | 1:28.03
Towson (Owen Robinson, Ryan O'Leary, Nick McClure, Matt Essing) | 1:28.08
400 Medley Relay:
William & Mary (Colin Demers, Ian Bidwell, Jack Doherty, Colin Wright) | 3:09.89
UNCW (Will Countie, Gianmichel D'Alessandro, Henderson Louviere, Sean Cannon) | 3:12.48
Drexel (Jason Arthur, Zachary Valenzuela, Paris Raptis, Stathis Malamas) | 3:14.25