Consistency Through Balance Wooster’s Key in 2024-25 Season

Balanced scoring throughout its lineup continues to be The College of Wooster men's swimming and diving team's calling card. That approach has led to the program finishing in the top half of NCAA Div. III's preeminent swimming and diving conference every year since 2016, with the stretch headlined by an impressive third-place showing behind national powers Denison University and Kenyon College two years ago. Veteran head coach Rob Harrington is looking to continue that consistency through the 2025 North Coast Athletic Conference Championships.

"Balanced scoring is always our approach," confirmed Harrington. "We make sure we have depth in every event. We look for that balance through not only our recruitment, but with the training of our athletes in preparation for the conference championship. We have always found strength in numbers."

Junior Callum Glover enters the year as Wooster's No. 1 swimmer following the graduation of Josh Pearson. The championship-final staple at the NCAC meet just missed all-conference laurels in the 50 freestyle and turned in the program's top times in over two decades in the 50 and 100 freestyles.

"There is a lot of talk about getting qualifying times for nationals," shared Harrington. "Callum is already off to a great start. His focus is very high. He will be the cornerstone of many of our relays and the sprint group."

Behind Glover is a strong upperclass group that includes 10 seniors. Harrington will "be looking for their leadership" to guide the team through the season and feels he has a lot of "good pieces" to build an exciting season around.

Breaststroke and individual medley are arguably Wooster's top two areas heading into the season. The core of junior Boston Sullivan, senior Tucker Andrewjeski, and senior Isaac Shaker all boast top-10 program times in the 200 breaststroke. Wooster has "considerable depth" in the breaststroke, per Harrington, who will look to seniors Nathan Ferrence, Ari Inwood, and Parker Robinson to contribute among the returnees.           

More of the same is projected in the individual medley, with Harrington counting on Andrewjeski, Shaker, and Sullivan to provide a lot of "chances for success." Among the returnees, junior Matt Kaley, sophomore Ryan Stokes, and senior Andre Yazhbin project to do more with individual medley events, per Harrington.

Butterfly is where Wooster "graduated quite a bit," according to Harrington, and he will be "looking for people to step up and fill some of the holes." Sophomore Ethan Neuner is a candidate to become a more featured butterfly swimmer, while Glover could strategically be entered in the 100-yard event on occasion. Harrington projects seeing Kaley and Shaker in the 200 butterfly and forecasts junior Will Laymon and senior Max Likins contributing more in the specialty strokes.

Speaking of Laymon and Likins, the duo enter the year as the top backstrokers in the program among the returnees. Likins sports the ninth-best 200-yard backstroke time in program history, while Laymon broke into the program's top-10 in the 100 backstroke a season ago. Junior Stu Bovich and senior Aiden Lentz are other top returnees in the backstroke.

Glover headlines a talented sprint freestyle group, that also features multi-year standout Ryan Gross and Neuner. Depth from the likes of sophomore Dillon Boespflug senior Jed Howrey and sophomore Caleb Sun give the Scots plenty of experience for the dual-meet season. In the distance freestyle, Harrington is looking for Shaker to continue to lead the training group. Sophomore Philipp Drappatz came on strong late in his debut season, placing 12th in the 1,650 freestyle at conference, and will be counted on for big contributions. Junior Will Laubacher and Yazhbin are the others among the returnees projected to be key contributors in the distance freestyle, per Harrington.

Wooster's divers have provided strong contributions to the program in recent years. That group receives a big boost with the addition of diving coach Joel Weeman, who is based in Wooster, enabling the divers to regularly practice on campus this season. Junior Leo Edmonds-Doberenz was a top-five finisher on the one-meter board at conference last year. Junior Blu Catanzaro returns after studying abroad. A third junior, Noah McDonald, rounds out the major point-boost group.

Wooster's roster is rounded out by first-years Zach Cornberg, Marek Kaszynski, Conner Morgan, and Eli Tansey. Harrington is high on the "promise and possibility" the newcomers bring to the program.

Wooster's year starts at the Kenyon College Relays on October 19. The program's annual three-day invitational, which takes place December 5-7, headlines the home meets.