NCAC Swimming & Diving Championships Central
The Outlook: The College of Wooster's men's and women's swimming and diving teams travel to Denison University for the four-day 2023 North Coast Athletic Conference Championships, which take place February 8-11 at Trumbull Aquatics Center. Prelims on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday start at 9:30 a.m., with finals beginning at 6 p.m. Wednesday's session begins with diving at 4 p.m.
Ticket Information: All-session passes were sold online during the month of January. A limited number of single-session tickets will be sold on site during the championships. Single-session tickets are: Adults - $5 per preliminaries session, $10 per finals session; Children (18-and-under) and Student (with ID) - $3 per preliminaries session, $5 per finals session; students who attend a NCAC institution are admitted free of charge with their student ID card.
Media Coverage: Fans can follow along through the available livestream and live stats links as found on the NCAC Swimming & Diving Championships webpage. Fans can also follow the swimming and diving team's Twitter account @WooSwimDive for periodic updates.
2022 NCAC Championships Recap: Wooster's women finished in fourth-place, while the men were the fifth-place team at the 2022 NCAC Championships. Then-first-year Ollie Bream (Pinehurst, Texas/Firbank Grammar School (Australia)) earned four all-conference honors, the most by a Wooster first-year since Meggie Edwards in 2006. Bream debuted at the NCAC Championships on the all-conference 800 freestyle relay, which took third with a time of 7:51.68. She swam the butterfly legs of Wooster's all-conference and third-place 200 (1:47.03) and 400 medley relays (3:54.70). Individually, Bream capped her debut NCAC meet with all-conference honors in the 200 butterfly, with the NCAA Div. III "B-cut" time of 2:03.74 earning third-place honors and ranking as the second-fastest time in the event in program history.
Bream was joined on the all-conference 800 freestyle relay by alumna Mia Chen, current junior Emma Connors (Coraopolis, Pa./Moon Area), and alumna Madison Whitman, while Bream, Chen, current sophomore Hallie Findlan (Jefferson Hills, Pa./Thomas Jefferson), and alumna Molly Likins were Wooster's all-conference quartet on the medley relays. Individually, current junior Maddie Becker (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) broke the program record in the 100 individual medley with a time of 59.93 at conference.
Wooster's men opened last year's championships with all-conference honors in the 800 freestyle relay, with the Scots' 6:56.68 ranking third in the field after Wabash College was sent off with the first disqualification at the championships. Wooster returns that entire relay, which consisted of current junior Josh Pearson (Cincinnati, Ohio/Indian Hill), current senior Doak Schultz (Mystic, Conn//Osbourn Park (Va.)), current sophomore Isaac Shaker (Solon, Ohio/Solon), and current sophomore Ryan Gross (Solon, Ohio/Solon).
Pearson went on to become the first Scot to earn all-conference honors in the 400 individual medley at the NCAC Championships. In that event, the then-sophomore lowered his school-record time to 4:00.30, with the time also rating as a NCAA Div. III "B-cut." Pearson had two "B-cuts" at the NCAC Championships with the other coming in the 200 butterfly, where he also had a school record at 1:50.85. Pearson had three school records at last year's conference meet, with the final one coming in the 200 individual medley, where he lowered his collegiate-best time to 1:51.77.
We're Unstoppable: Wooster's women's team posted its third-consecutive undefeated dual meet season, and the Scots have now won 22 consecutive dual meets dating back to January 25, 2020. In fact, Wooster's women have lost just five dual meets since the start of the 2015-16 season. Additionally, Wooster defeated all the NCAC programs it competed against in dual meets for the third straight year and the eighth time in the last nine seasons. Wooster's men went undefeated in dual meets against NCAC programs it competed against for the third straight year and the fifth time in the last six seasons, and this is the third straight year the Scots have lost one or fewer dual meets on the men's side.
We Invite You to Make a Splash: Bream's 2:05.14 in the 200 butterfly at the midseason Wooster Invitational was good for a NCAA Div. III "B-cut." On the men's side, Schultz broke away from alumnus Griffin Campbell to take solo possession of the 100 individual medley school record. Schultz went 52.41 at the midseason invite.
Trio Score In-Season NCAC Awards: Connors, Findlan, and Bream all earned NCAC Athlete of the Week honors this season. Connors earned the award following the Scots' lid-lifter for the second consecutive year. The junior was the distance ace in the season-opening 181-171 win over the University of Mount Union. Connors went 11:19.97 to win the 1,000 free, and later returned to go 2:05.77 in the 200 freestyle before capping the day with the winning time of 5:36.36 in the 500 freestyle. Findlan posted a second-straight quadruple-winner meet against Westminster College in November. The sophomore's success started by swimming the backstroke leg of Wooster's winning 200 medley relay (1:53.83). Individually, Findlan won the 50 freestyle (24.61) and 100 freestyle (53.91) against the Titans before anchoring the meet-capping 200 freestyle relay (1:43.63), which cruised to an over-five-second victory. Bream was the conference's selection following the midseason Wooster Invitational. Bream won the 200 butterfly at 2:05.14 and claimed top honors in the 400 individual medley with a time of 4:33.77. Bream was the 200 individual medley (2:07.39) runner-up at the Wooster Invitational and helped the Scots to top-three showings in the 800 freestyle (8:01.04), 200 medley (1:48.91), and 400 freestyle relays (3:37.67).