NCAC Championships Notebook: Swimming & Diving

NCAC Swimming & Diving Championships Webpage

The Outlook: The College of Wooster men's and women's swimming and diving teams travel to Denison University for the four-day 2024 North Coast Athletic Conference Championships, which take place February 14-17 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 prelims at 4:45 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 stat links as found on the NCAC Swimming & Diving Championships webpage.

2023 NCAC Championships Recap: Wooster and Wabash College jockeyed back and forth for third-place all night on the final day of the 2023 NCAC Championships, and when all was said and done, the Fighting Scots held off the Little Giants for the program's first top-three conference finish in two decades. Wooster's women took fourth.

Saturday saw Wooster and Wabash trade possession of third-place four times, with the Scots taking over third for good during the 200 butterfly. Wooster's cards were stacked right in the event, as the Scots overmatched the Little Giants 87-39, thanks in large part to two Wooster swimmers in the championship final. Then-junior Josh Pearson (Cincinnati, Ohio/Indian Hill) shaved over three seconds off his preliminary swim to lower his school record in the event and post a NCAA Div. III "B cut" in the process at 1:49.65, which was the fifth-place time. Then-sophomore Isaac Shaker (Solon, Ohio/Solon) joined Pearson in the championship final and went 1:54.51, which ranked eighth.

On the women's side, Wooster loaded up in the 1,650 freestyle, and that strategy worked, with the Scots scoring 145 points to all but solidify the fourth-place finish. Wooster occupied places seven through nine and 11 through 14 in the event. Then-first-year Lacey Mindock (Oswego, Ill./Rosary) led the trio of top-nine Scots, while then-sophomore JP Timken (Canton, Ohio/Hoover) was right behind at 17:55.67, with both times ranking inside the program's top-10 in the event. Junior Emma Connors (Coraoplis, Pa./Moon Area) went 18:00.75 to place ninth.

Undefeated: Senior Maddie Becker (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) and Connors went undefeated during their dual meet careers at the College, as Wooster won all 32 dual meets. Becker capped her dual meet career with winning times in the 200 medley relay (1:55.15), 50 breaststroke (31.24), 100 breaststroke (1:08.98), and 100 individual medley (1:01.32) against Hiram College and Oberlin College. Becker's final swim at Timken Natatorium was a pool record, as the senior lowered her already-held top time in the 100 individual medley.

Make it 30: Wooster's women dispatched NCAA Div. II Notre Dame College 166-33 and Bluffton University 169-13 in a double-dual meet on Jan. 26. Those victories propelled Wooster's winning streak north of 30 meets. Wooster has not lost a dual on the women's side since falling 163-131 to Allegheny College on Jan. 18, 2020. Only the University of Mount Union has been within 20 points of beating Wooster during the winning streak. The Scots took that dual from the Purple Raiders 181-161 on Oct. 22, 2022.

Record Smashers: Timken Natatorium records fell early and often this season. Junior Ollie Bream (Melbourne, Australia/Firbank Grammar School) went 59.15 in the 100 butterfly to break the pool record in a 209-78 win over Westminster College (Pennsylvania). At the same meet, Becker lowered her already-held 100 individual medley pool record with a time of 1:01.63. Sophomore Callum Glover (Houston, Texas/Stratford) toppled a Wes Bennett Timken Natatorium record that stood since 2000 in a 168-39 win over Ohio Wesleyan University on Jan. 20. Glover's 46.98 was better than the 13-time All-American's 47.29. As mentioned earlier, Becker again lowered her 100 individual medley pool record in the dual meet finale.

School Records Tumble: Junior Tucker Andrewjeski (Henderson, Nev./Green Valley) broke the first school record of the year by taking down Evan Hagedorn's 2:07.46 in the 200 breaststroke at the midseason Wooster Invitational. Andrewjeski went 2:06.73 in prelims and shaved even more time in finals, touching at 2:06.48. Later in finals, Pearson went 52.37 to break alumnus Doak Schultz's record of 52.41 in the 100 individual medley.

Athletes of the Week: Becker claimed Wooster's first of four NCAC Athlete of the Week honors this fall. The senior helped the Scots claim a 164-132 win over Mount Union, book-ending the meet with relay wins in the 400 medley (4:10.74) and 200 freestyle relays (1:43.09). In individual events, Becker swept the breaststrokes, stopping the clock at 1:02.31 in the 100 and 2:33.49 in the 200. A week later, Glover was honored after powering Wooster to a 201-95 win over Westminster. At that meet, Glover had the top times in the 50 freestyle (22.08) and 100 butterfly (54.36). The sophomore anchored the winning 200 medley (1:40.46) and 200 freestyle relays (1:30.17). Bream's Timken Natatorium record helped the junior to a third NCAC Athlete of the Week award. In addition to the record, she added first-place honors in the 50 freestyle (25.56), the 200 medley relay (1:53.41) and 200 freestyle relay (1:44.00) in the win over Westminster. Becker's second selection following the sweep of Hiram and Oberlin rounded out the honors.

Invite Champions: Timken led off the final day of the program's annual Wooster Invitational with a time of 17:48.03 in the mile. With the swim, Timken lowered an already-held 10th-fastest time in program history, while her 1,000 time of 10:45.79 is the ninth-best in the program annals. Bream scored a third first-place finish at the Wooster Invitational with a time of 2:06.15 in the 200 butterfly, while Pearson surged from a third-place seed time to the title with a 1:51.17 in finals in the same event. Earlier in the Wooster Invitational, Bream and Pearson swept the 400 individual medley. The first-place finish marked Bream's seventh top showing over her career at the meet, while for Pearson, it marked first-place finish number five. Pearson's 4:04.43 was over nine seconds better than his prelim swim of 4:13.66, while Bream's 4:33.40 ranked about two seconds ahead of University of Cumberlands' Alicja Sedlak, who was the runner-up. On night one of the Wooster Invitational, Bream's 2:07.28 in the 200 individual medley was .02 off her career-best time from 2022, which is the second-fastest one in program history. Junior Hallie Findlan (Jefferson Hills, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) entered finals as the favorite in the 50 freestyle after topping the prelims (24.30) and she held true to give the women its second win with a 24.16 in finals.