LANCASTER, Pa. - The Swarthmore College men's swimming team edged out Gettysburg College to win its fourth-straight Centennial Conference Championship on Sunday night at Franklin & Marshall College. The program's journey of four-straight titles began in the same pool in 2022. 

The Garnet clawed back and edged out Gettysburg with a pair of spectacular swims in the final two events. Trailing late in the meet, Sam Peterson, Mateo Smith and Dylan Ling finished with the top-three spots in the 200 butterfly to put Swarthmore in position to win. The men's 400 freestyle relay of Cami Wilson, Danny Castle, Levi Tipton and Cole Griscavage then delivered in a big way with a gold medal to beat out the Bullets. Swarthmore ended with 928 points, while Gettysburg had 892 points. 

After being chosen the Most Outstanding Rookie in 2024, Castle captured his first career Most Outstanding Swimmer selection. The sophomore tallied six gold medals, which included individual victories in the 200 IM, 200 freestyle and 100 freestyle. He is the fourth-straight Swarthmore swimmer to receive top honors after Andrew Karpenko went back-to-back-to-back as an honoree last season.


HOW IT HAPPENED
- Ham Williams-Tracy opened the night session with a fourth-place finish in the 1650 freestyle. The senior finished at 16:07.04 behind a pair of Gettysburg swimmers, who claimed the top-two finishes. Andrew Hendrickson (16:30.13) placed sixth, while Theodore Kim (16:42.44) was eighth.

- Swarthmore grabbed fourth and sixth in the 200 backstroke. Dylan Herink placed fourth overall with a time of 1:50.56, while Jacob Sherman followed at 1:51.60. The Garnet made up ground in the consolation final with Matvey Ivanov (1:52.87) and Kim (1:55.51) grabbing the top-two spots.

- The men gained major momentum by claiming gold and silver in the 100 freestyle. Castle earned his fifth gold medal of the meet and second individual victory with a program record of 44.94. He also finished under the NCAA B cut. Cole Griscavage followed with a silver medal at 45.37, while Tipton (45.61) and Benton Greenberg (45.87) were fifth and seventh, respectively. 

- Omar Ebied was the lone Swarthmore 200 breaststroker in the final heat. The senior raced to a seventh-place finish at 2:06.57. Tim Fan won the consolation heat with a 2:08.84 mark. 

- The Garnet delivered a massive blow to Gettysburg's championship hopes with a medal sweep in the 200 butterfly. Sam Peterson led the way with a time of 1:51.89 to earn gold, while Mateo Smith (1:52.18) and Dylan Ling (1:52.51) claimed silver and bronze. Luke Magnuson also won the consolation final for the Garnet with a time of 1:54.49.  

- The Garnet ended an unforgettable championship performance with an electric finish in the 400 freestyle relay. The team of Wilson, Castle, Tipton and Griscavage brought home the victory with a championship record of 2:58.95. The quartet also finished below the NCAA B cut, while setting a new pool and program record. It marked the first sub-three minute mark in program history. 

UP NEXT
The Garnet await the announcement of Wednesday's NCAA Championship selections. The championships will be held March 19-22 in Greensboro, North Carolina.