The Case Western Reserve University men's swimming and diving team turned in a successful 2019-20 campaign, going 6-2 in dual meets, winning the Wooster Invitational, and finishing fourth at the Midwest Invitational to conclude the season.
The Spartan men found success at the 2020 University Athletic Association Championships, hosted by the University of Chicago, with the 200-yard medley relay team of junior Will McDonald, sophomore Calvin Tecson, first-year Patrick Cavanaugh and first-year Anatole Borisov setting a new school record time of 1:31.77. That time bested the previous mark of 1:32.35 set at the Wooster Invite earlier in the season.
Tecson also led off the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 46.04 in the 100 Free, which broke the previous school record of 46.05 set by former Spartan Aaron Tam in 2016. In addition, Tecson set a new school record time of 20.76 during the preliminaries of the 50-yard freestyle. That broke his previous school record of 20.77 set at the 2019 Wooster Invite.
McDonald and Borisov also broke school records throughout the championships. McDonald placed 18th in the 200-yard individual medley with a new school record time of 1:53.51. That time bested the previous school record of 1:53.73 set by former Spartan Drew Hamilton in 2017. McDonald also finished 19th in the 100-yard backstroke with a school record time of 50.90, which broke the previous school record of 51.12 set by McDonald during the second day of the UAA Championships. Borisov notched a school record time during the preliminaries of the 100-yard butterfly, as he placed ninth with a time of 49.69. That time bested the previous school record of 49.84 set by former Spartan Aaron Tam in 2015.
First-year Xander Guerrero also finished 11th in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a NCAA 'B' cut time of 16:12.18. The Spartan men totaled 732 points over the four-day meet, finishing sixth at the conference championships.
Earlier in the year, Case Western Reserve won the Wooster Invitational in December, marking the 10th-straight time the Spartans have won the meet. The Spartans totaled 2,496 points to finish ahead of the other six teams, and outscored second-place Mount Union by over 1,000 points. Spartan swimmers notched six individual first-place finishes at the meet, with Tecson claiming first in the 50-yard freestyle (20.77), sophomore Ryan Gorman placing first in the 400-yard individual medley (4:07.55), sophomore Neil Wible finishing first in the 200-yard freestyle (1:41.77), sophomore Nicholas Schoenig claiming first in the 100-yard backstroke (51.55), McDonald placing first in the 200-yard backstroke (1:51.23) and first-year Andrew Smith finishing first in the 200-yard butterfly (1:51.12).
The Spartans turned in a solid dual meet campaign, winning six of their eight meets during the campaign, including a 3-1 record at home during the year. The Spartans racked up wins against Ashland, Grove City, Rochester (N.Y.), SUNY-Geneseo, Ohio Northern and Baldwin Wallace during the year. The team's only two losses during the season came to Carnegie Mellon and John Carroll.
In addition to their success in the pool, the Spartans were recognized by the CSCAA as a Scholar All-America Team, based on their team grade point average of 3.39 during the fall semester. 15 members of the men's swimming and diving team – sophomore Will Backer, junior Kyle Barclay, junior Nathan Callithen, junior Andrew Duffield, junior Mark Fox, sophomore Thomas Gartley, sophomore Ryan Gilbert, Gorman, junior Chris Lemley, McDonald, senior James Pierre, senior A.J. Quinn, senior Eli Rose, Wible and junior Jakob Woerner – received UAA Winter All-Academic recognition during the 2019-20 campaign.
The following were top times/marks by Spartan swimmers and divers during the 2019-20 season:
50 Free
|
Calvin Tecson
|
20.76 *SR
|
UAA Championships
|
100 Free
|
Calvin Tecson
|
46.04 *SR
|
UAA Championships
|
200 Free
|
Andrew Smith
|
1:40.59
|
UAA Championships
|
500 Free
|
Xander Guerrero
|
4:42.43
|
UAA Championships
|
1000 Free
|
Xander Guerrero
|
9:47.43
|
UAA Championships
|
1650 Free
|
Xander Guerrero
|
16:12.18
|
UAA Championships
|
100 Back
|
Will McDonald
|
50.90 *SR
|
UAA Championships
|
200 Back
|
Will McDonald
|
1:50.89
|
UAA Championships
|
100 Breast
|
Patrick Cavanaugh
|
57.82
|
Wooster Invitational
|
200 Breast
|
Sean Twomey
|
2:05.79
|
UAA Championships
|
100 Fly
|
Anatole Borisov
|
49.69 *SR
|
UAA Championships
|
200 Fly
|
Andrew Smith
|
1:51.12
|
Wooster Invitational
|
200 IM
|
Will McDonald
|
1:53.31 *SR
|
UAA Championships
|
400 IM
|
Sean Twomey
|
4:03.00
|
UAA Championships
|
1-Meter Dive (11 Dives)
|
Cassiel Yuzik
|
386.70
|
UAA Championships
|
3-Meter Dive (11 Dives)
|
Cassiel Yuzik
|
419.40
|
UAA Championships
|
200 Free Relay
|
Ryan Gilbert, Will Bryant, Anatole Borisov, Calvin Tecson
|
1:22.95
|
UAA Championships
|
400 Free Relay
|
Calvin Tecson, Ryan Gilbert, Anatole Borisov, Neil Wible
|
3:04.93
|
UAA Championships
|
800 Free Relay
|
Andrew Smith, Neil Wible, Ryan Gilbert, Nicholas Schoenig
|
6:53.01
|
UAA Championships
|
200 Medley Relay
|
Will McDonald, Patrick Cavanaugh, Anatole Borisov, Calvin Tecson
|
1:31.77 *SR
|
UAA Championships
|
400 Medley Relay
|
Nicholas Schoenig, Patrick Cavanaugh, Anatole Borisov, Calvin Tecson
|
3:24.66
|
UAA Championships
|
*SR – Indicates school record