Senior Sarah Litt is one of the conference's top returning swimmers in the 200 butterfly, and will also be a strong factor in the 200 backstroke and 400 IM.

The College of Wooster women's swimming and diving team endured a series of unfortunate events last season – an All-American caliber athlete leaving between semesters, two relays being disqualified at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships, and a top swimmer too sick to compete beyond the first day of the conference meet – that resulted in an uncharacteristic sixth-place NCAC finish.

Now, the Fighting Scots hope to make amends and resume their role as one of the top teams within the preeminent swim conference in NCAA Div. III. They have 17 top-three finishes in the 31-year history of the NCAC to their credit.

"I think we have some unfinished business. What could go wrong, went wrong last year," said Wooster head coach Rob Harrington. "We would like to be (at least) top-four again. We did lose some superstars, but I think we have the depth to replace the conference points we lost."

One of the superstars the Fighting Scots lost was Morgan Hughes, a Fulbright Scholar who earned Academic All-American® honors and was a three-time All-American during her swimming career. While she'll be challenging to replace, Harrington believes a strong group of newcomers – sophomore transfer Maggie Layde and first-years Abby Blinka, Emma Fiske, and Kalla Sturonas among others – will propel Wooster up the NCAC standings.

In addition to the talented newcomers, the Scots will lean on a number of veterans, with seniors Molly Laubernds and Lena Smith serving as team captains. Laubernds looks to build off her NCAC bonus heat wins in the 100 backstroke (1:03.15) and the 200 butterfly (2:17.70), while Smith's versatility will allow her to score points in the IM events again.

Fellow seniors Alexandra Desotelle and Sarah Litt are coming off strong performances at the 2015 NCAC Championships. Desotelle was the team's highest individual finisher via a ninth-place in the 100 breaststroke (1:08.61), and Litt narrowly missed on qualifying for the championship finals in the 200 butterfly (2:09.94) while also scoring key points in the 200 back and 400 IM.

Erin Drake, another member of the senior class, will complement Desotelle in the breaststroke events, having taken 12th in the conference in the 100 (1:08.90) and 18th in the 200 (2:36.63) last winter.

Junior Anna McGlade is the team leader in the mid-distance freestyle events. In fact, she holds the school record in the 200 free (1:53.21), and she'll also look to lower her personal-best of 5:04.75 in the 500.

When juniors Theresa Dunne and Margaret Goldsmith return from studying abroad the fall semester, Harrington expects them to resume their roles as the top distance freestylers. Dunne earned 15th-place at NCAC's in the grueling 1650 free (18:39.87), while Laubernds and sophomore Sarah Padrutt will help fill the void until they return.

Two of the top sprinters are expected to be sophomore Jillian Saccogna and junior Jamie Hibbs. Saccogna is healthy and possesses the ability to swim with the best in the conference, while Hibbs "looks faster than she was at this time last season," according to Harrington, and should push for spots in the NCAC championship heats of the 100 fly and 100 free.

In the diving well, both junior Theresa Spadola and first-year Morgan Day are expected to provide valuable points. Spadola was the conference's ninth-best on both the one-meter (288.15) and three-meter (258.30) last year.