Griffin Campbell is part of a very talented sophomore class, that helped Wooster make up the ground to finish in the top-five in the NCAC last year.

A talented men's swimming and diving team at The College of Wooster made up the ground to finish among the top-five in the North Coast Athletic Conference behind the highest-ever point haul in program history. Now the Fighting Scots will look to maintain the consistency during the 2016-17 campaign and are in search of their first consecutive top-five finishes at one of Div. III's preeminent meets since the 2008 and 2009 NCAC Championships.

"We had a tremendous year last year, and I'm really excited about the start of this season," said 14th-year head coach Rob Harrington. "We lost a very talented class on the men's side, and it will be difficult to replace them. We are pleased with what we've seen so far from our first-year class. We'll look to top returning swimmers and divers to help and lead us through the season. The hope is to finish again in the top-five in the conference."

Leading the way for the program is a versatile five-member senior class.

"To fall on the heels of our graduating class from last year, we have another very talented class," added Harrington. "It's a well-balanced group and that's something we look to bring in every year. Not only are they great swimmers and divers, but they're great leaders and we'll expect a great deal from them in the water, on the boards, and from the leadership aspect."

Conner Gelwicks headlines the seniors and is coming off of a history-making season. At the NCAC Championships, he became the first men's backstroke swimmer in the NCAC era to earn an all-conference certificate via a second-place finish (1:49.40) in the 200-yard race. In addition to the backstroke events, Gelwicks provides big points in the 100 butterfly at the NCAC Championships.

Aaron Salzman will back Gelwicks up in the diving well, and has regional potential. In fact, last year, Salzman earned one of the two required regional diving scores in a dual meet with Ohio Wesleyan University, and could be poised for big things during the 2016-17 season.

Complementing Gelwicks in a variety of events are classmates Ben Hopper in the backstroke and Avery Wilson in the butterfly. Aaron Brown rounds out the seniors and will be counted on to be one of the team's top sprint specialists.

A very deep sophomore class provided a large point haul and set four school records at the NCAC Championships last year.

Cameron Gelwicks headlines the junior class and enters the year as a holder of three school records – the 200 and 500 freestyles and the 800 freestyle relay. Coincidentally, three of the four legs on the 800 freestyle relay were swam by this class as Ryan Campbell and Max Koch joined up with the Gelwicks brothers to turn in a 6:56.83 at the NCAC Championships, and earn a fourth-place finish at the meet in the process.

Speaking of Campbell and Koch, the duo developed into two of the top distance freestyle swimmers in program history, and have the potential to be big-time contributors in individual and relay events.

In the butterfly events, Garrett Layde splashed right in as a major conference contributor, and broke the oldest program record with a 1:52.56 in the 200 butterfly, earning a NCAA Div. III "B" cut in the process.

The rest of the sophomore class is primarily sprint-event heavy and will be looking to take the next step at the conference level. The versatile Michael Crookshanks led the team in the 400 individual medley, while Griffin Campbell earned spots on two championship heat sprint relays. Adam Chalek, Burke Poeting, and Ric Reynolds round out the sophomore class, and provide an exciting future for the sprint group.

A trio of juniors – Luke Mierzejewski, Matthew Pech, and Emmett Werthmann give Wooster plenty of returning depth at all strokes. Mierzejewski's primary contributions come in the breaststroke events, while Pech provides veteran depth to Conner Gelwicks in the backstroke events. Werthmann gives Harrington versatility to swim nearly all of the freestyle events.

Seven first-years – Dom Apisa, Tyler Hartman, Nicholas Hull, Tyler McNichols, Hunter Pierson, Eli Samuelson, and Trey Schopen – round out this year's roster and Harrington notes that this group "shows a lot of early promise."

"From what we see currently the team is doing an excellent job training and bonding together in practice," summed up Harrington. "While it's too early to tell how we'll do this season, I'm feeling good about our possibilities."