The William & Mary men's swimming team will begin its quest for the Colonial Athletic Association Championships this week at the Christiansburg Aquatics Center, with championship swimming taking place Thursday-Saturday, April 1-2.  No fans are allowed in attendance at the meet this week, but it can be streamed live with a FloSports subscription.  Live results are also available through the Meet Mobile app.

Live Results
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Unique Scheduling
For the first time ever, the CAA Championships will have single gender sessions.  To comply with state and local health guidelines, the women will compete over a three-day championship format from Monday-Wednesday, while the men will swim the same format on Thursday-Saturday.  The diving events were also already held on Friday and Saturday, March 26-27, at the University of Delaware.

Compared to normal years, when the CAA Championships is a four-day meet with two relays on the first day and one each on the final three days, in a three-day format each of the first two days has two relays each.

Day One - 200 free relay, 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, 400 medley relay
Day Two - 200 medley relay, 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back, 800 free relay
Day Three - 1,650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, 400 free relay

Setting the Stage
At the conclusion of the diving events, here are the men's team standings:

Towson 93
Drexel 57
UNCW 40

William & Mary does not have divers, and Delaware did not send any to the championships.

Scouting the Tribe
W&M went 2-2 in dual meets this year, including a win over conference rival Delaware on the opening weekend of the season.  The Tribe has won the last six CAA titles in a row, and with a short roster of 17 entries, will be looking for big swims from every position to put itself in contention for another championship trophy.

Among W&M's top contenders is senior Jake Kealy (Wilton, Conn.), who is entered in seven different events and ranks fifth or better in four of them.  Conference rules limit athletes to just three individual events, so Kealy will have some choices to make, but his excellence in a wide range of events including free, IM, backstroke, and fly, will give his team a decided advantage.

Also boasting multiple top-five seeds is junior Graham Hertweck (Greensboro, N.C.), who is ranked second overall in the 50 free and third in the 100 free.  Hertweck will also figure to play a big role on the Tribe's relays, where he won several golds in 2020.  Also in the likely mix for feature roles on the relays is sophomore John O'Hara (Fredericksburg, Va.), who is ranked sixth in the league in the 100 free, the 100 fly, and the 200 free.  Sophomore Noah Fields (Williamsburg, Va.) is ranked third in both the 400 IM and the 200 fly, and freshman Aaron Tingley (Vienna, Va.) leads W&M's entries in the 200 back, ranked fifth overall in the league in that event.

Scouting the Field
Among its conference mates, William & Mary has reason to respect each and every opponent's chances to win the CAA Championships.  UNCW won 13 in a row from 2001-14, and would love to climb back to the top of the mountain under first-year head coach and alum Bobby Guntoro.  The Seahawks are led by Henderson Louviere, who is the top seed in both fly events and the 200 IM, as well as by Will Goldey, ranked number one in both backstrokes.  The Seahawks are seeded first overall in the 200 medley relay, and over the weekend, swept the titles in both diving events.

Towson is a strong program as well, looking for its first CAA Championship.  The Tigers are seeded first in all three freestyle relays as well as five individual events.  Michael Fazio has the top seed in the 100 free and the 200 free, while Ryan Baldino has top honors in the 50 free.  Brian Benzing is seeded first in the 100 breast, and Noah Diacumakos is seeded first overall in the 400 IM.

Delaware is an up and coming program with a deep and talented lineup, and could be the surprise pick to lift the trophy on Saturday night.  The Blue Hens are ranked first in the 400 medley relay, and own the top seeds in the 500 free, courtesy of Bryce Ciecko, and in the 200 breast thanks to Eric Veit.  Drexel, while having a smaller roster than most other schools, still has a proud tradition of strong swimmers and individual champions, a tradition that Will Soleo will look to add to in the 1,650 free.