Men’s Swimming & Diving NEWMAC Championships Preview

The Wheaton College men's swimming and diving team will compete in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championships on Thursday, February 14-Sunday, February 17, hosted by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), at the Barrie Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center.

Different from years past, the championship will commence on Thursday night with the preliminary rounds of the men's one-meter diving event. On Friday morning, preliminary heats for both swimming and diving events will start at 10:00 a.m., with consolation and championship heats taking place in the evening at 6:00 p.m. The same format will hold true for Saturday and Sunday of the NEWMAC Championships. Tickets for the meet will be sold at the door.

RELAYS: Wheaton will look to pick up plenty of points in several relay events over the course of the four-day championship as the Lyons rank inside the top-10 in all five relays. Wheaton's highest ranking, based on seed times, is fifth overall in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:13.93. The Lyons have the fourth fastest time (not counting "B" relays) in the NEWMAC this season in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Any "B" team relay competing at the NEWMAC Championships cannot place any higher than 11th overall in any relay event.

STUDENT-ATHLETES TO WATCH: Second-year swimmer Nick Fredette (Stoneham, Mass./Stoneham) holds three of the fastest times on the squad this year in the 200-yard freestyle, 200-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard individual medley. Fredette is expected to compete in all three events at the NEWMAC Championships this weekend. Fredette is seeded fifth in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:13.82), seventh in the 200-yard IM (1:58.68) and ninth in the 200-yard free (1:44.99). 

Junior Emerson Jenkins (Kansas City, Mo./Pembroke Hill School) enters this week's conference championships seeded inside the top-15 in a pair of events. E. Jenkins is seeded tenth overall in the 50-yard freestyle (21.84-secodns) and 11th overall in the 100-yard freestyle. Two weeks ago, E. Jenkins finished second in the 100-yard free at the Wheaton Invitational with a season-best time of 47.93.

Sophomore Richard Jenkins (Bow, N.H./Bow) is seeded inside the top-20 in three events including an eighth place ranking in the 100-yard backstroke (54.93-seconds). R. Jenkins is ranked tenth overall in the 200-yard backstroke (2:00.73) and 18th in the 50-free (22.31-seconds).

Classmate Dominic Ziolek (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) is also seeded inside the top-20 in three events. Ziolek ranks 12th overall in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:18.52), and 13th overall in the 500-yard freestyle (4:57.26) and the 1,650-freestyle. Ziolek's time of 17:18.43 is the seventh fastest time among all NEWMAC swimmers so far this season who have competed in the 1,650-yard free.

Second-year diver Ben Oliveri (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) enters this weekend's championships off of a stellar showing at the Wheaton Invitational two weeks ago. Oliveri broke all four program records on the diving boards and qualified for NCAA's in the one-meter and three-meter dives.

HISTORY: Last season, Wheaton finished seventh overall out of seven teams with 216 points at MIT. The Lyons have finished as high as fourth overall on four different occasions (2011, 2010, 2006, 2005) throughout the 14-year history of the NEWMAC Championships. Wheaton has hosted the conference championships six times at the Balfour Natatorium tying MIT in that category. The Engineers will be hosting the NEWMAC Championships for the sixth time in their program history this weekend.