5 Races to Watch at the 2015 NCAA Division III Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships

Is it too soon to look ahead to 2015 NCAA Division III Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships? I say it’s never too soon.

Here are my top 5 men’s races to look forward to in March:

2015 NCAA Division III Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships

#5 Men’s 50 Yard Freestyle

Of course the 50 free is an exciting race, but it should be even more exciting to know that the top 16 50 freestylers are separated by just .46 seconds. An example of the intense possibilities: Christian Brindamour, Thomas Meek, and Austin Fathman have all gone a 20.50. If these were the preliminary times at nationals, they would hold spots 7-9. There would be a swim-off to which 2 swimmers would be in the A final and one in the B final. In order to make it back to the A final this year, each swimmer will have to swim his best race in the morning.

#4 Men’s 500 Yard Freestyle
The top 4 500 freestylers are separated by a mere 3 tenths of a second. Andrew Greenhalgh of Johns Hopkins leads the charge with a time of 4:26.08 followed by Arthur Conover of Kenyon 4:26.11, Shahar Resman of Keene State 4:26.33, and Christian Baker of Emory with a 4:26.36. Last year Conover, Greenhalgh, and Shahar took places 3-5 at nationals (they are all 2+ seconds faster so far this year) and with the top 2 swimmers having graduated, these four men will be fighting for a national title for 4+ minutes that could be decided by fractions of a second.

#3 Men’s 100 Yard Backstroke
Last year’s co-champions in the 100 backstroke have graduated, which means there is room for a new face at the top of the podium. But who might that champion be? The top 3 guys are Michael Curley from Kenyon with a 48.66 and teammates from MIT Alexander Lednev and Bo Mattix with 48.67 and 48.93 respectively. Curley is already .2 faster than he was at nationals last year, but Mattix went .6 slower at his midseason meet than he swam at Nationals last year. Lednev didn’t even swim the event at nationals last year but has since channeled his inner-sprinter to bring him to the top of the 100 back. Come March, this should be a close, fast race.

Photo Courtesy: Ryan Bass

#2 Men’s 200 Yard IM
This race is going to be exciting because we have no idea what time the top 2 guys will go. At their midseason meet, Andrew Wilson of Emory posted a 1:47.59 and Evan Holder of Johns Hopkins went a 1:47.69. The amazing part about this is that both guys have dropped more than 2 seconds from their nationals performance last year! Last year, Wilson earned sixth place with a 1:49.87 and Holder 13th with a 1:50.59. These guys should put on quite the show in March. Speaking of this year, the top 11 relays have posted times within 1.09 seconds. The University of Chicago is holding onto the top spot by .01 seconds over Emory University who lost three graduating relay members.

#1: Men’s 200 Medley Relay

Last year’s 200 Medley Relay was insanely close: places 2-8 were within 1.14 seconds. Not to mention Denison and Connecticut would have been in this mix if they had been in the championship final. These 9 relays had only 5 graduating seniors making possibly 86% of these swimmers back this year for the race.

Speaking of this year, the top 11 relays have posted times within 1.09 seconds. The University of Chicago is holding onto the top spot by .01 seconds over Emory University who lost three graduating relay members.

Also in the mix is Denison. At their midseason meet, Denison swam two relays that went 1:31.41 and 1:31.42. If they had swum their fastest combination, they would be in 5th place with a 1:30.70 rather than 10th!

Top to bottom, the 200 Medley Relay will be THE race to watch at Nationals!

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