LANCASTER, Pa. – Defending champion Swarthmore was a unanimous pick to repeat in the 2019 Centennial Conference Men's Swimming Preseason Poll. In the annual vote among the conference head coaches, the Garnet received all six possible first-place votes and totaled 36 points to earn the top spot. 

Gettysburg ranked second in the voting with 29 points and received the other first-place nod, while Franklin & Marshall and Ursinus were tied for third with 23 points apiece. Dickinson (15), Washington College (14) and McDaniel (7) rounded out the poll in fifth through seventh, respectively. 

The 2019-20 season opens up on Saturday, Oct. 19 with a trio of conference teams in action. The Centennial Conference Championship is set for Feb. 20-23 at Gettysburg, while the NCAA Championships will take place from March 18-21 in Greensboro, N.C. 

2019-20 Schedule | 2019 Championship Results | 2018-19 All-Centennial Team | Record Book

Swarthmore returned to the top of the Centennial last winter after capturing its first-ever conference crown in 2017, making it two titles in the last three years for the Garnet. Swarthmore won 10 of 18 events at the championship meet to defeat second-place Gettysburg by over 200 points. 

Ten CC swimmers went on to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Returning NCAA participants from last year include Swarthmore's Alec Lawless, Jeremy Rockaway and Thomas Ward, and Franklin & Marshall's Christopher Schiavone, Brendan Cline, and Alec Wahl. 

A total of 16 All-Centennial swimmers from the 2018-19 campaign are back in the fold this winter, including seven from Swarthmore, four from F&M, three from Ursinus and one each from Gettysburg and Washington College. 

2019-20 Centennial Conference Men's Swimming Preseason Poll