The William & Mary men's swimming team opened action at the Colonial Athletic Association Swimming & Diving Championships early Thursday afternoon, advancing nine men to finals across three events.  In the unofficial preliminary scoring, Towson jumped out in front with 185 points, with UNCW second at 121 followed by Drexel (106), the Tribe (39), and Delaware (27).

500 Free
The first event of the week was the 500 free, where all four of the Tribe's swimmers made it back for finals.  Sophomore Owen Miller (Kalamazoo, Mich.) made the championship finals  in 4:36.89, good for fifth overall.  Making the consolation finals was his classmate John O'Hara (Fredericksburg, Va.), 12th in 4:41.74, as well as a pair of freshmen.  Gavin Lamoureux (Virginia Beach, Va.) turned in a lifetime-best 4:43.29 for 14th overall, and Eugenio Massari (New York, N.Y.) was right behind him in 4:44.53 for 15th place.

200 IM
Senior Jake Kealy (Wilton, Conn.) continued his outstanding season-long campaign this morning, swimming a lifetime-best 1:47.98 to earn the top seed in the 200 IM finals.  That improved his previous best by just over a full second, and was the 15th-fastest race ever at W&M.  Kealy now ranks fifth all-time among Tribe athletes.  Also swimming a lifetime-best was sophomore Colby Mills (Chesterfield, Va.), who swam 1:51.07 for 10th overall and a spot in the consolation heat.  Mills now ranks 16th all-time at W&M in the event.  His classmate Conor Sokolowsky (Williamsburg, Va.) also had a lifetime-best performance, timing 1:52.52 for 14th overall and another spot in the finals, while sophomore Noah Fields (Williamsburg, Va.) is the first alternate in 17th place, following a lifetime-best of his own at 1:53.60.

50 Free
Junior Graham Hertweck (Greensboro, N.C.) advanced to the championship finals in the 50 free as the third seed, stopping the clock in a season-fast 20.30 seconds.  Senior Christopher Pfuhl (Charlotte, N.C.) swam a lifetime-best by nearly a quarter-second, timing 20.83 seconds, and advanced to the consolation finals in 11th overall.

The finals of all three events, plus the 200 free relay and the 400 medley relay, begin tonight at 7:25 p.m.

2021 Colonial Athletic Association Men's Swimming & Diving Championships
Unofficial Preliminary Scoring
1. Towson 185
2. UNCW 121
3. Drexel 106
4. William & Mary 39
5. Delaware 27