LANCASTER, Pa. – Swarthmore edged Franklin & Marshall by the narrowest of margins atop the Centennial Conference Men's Swimming Preseason Poll. In the annual vote among the conference head coaches, the Garnet received three first-place votes and tallied 33 points to land atop the rankings. 

Defending-champion F&M was picked to place second with 32 points and three first-place votes, while Gettysburg also garnered a first-place tally and collected 28 points to finish third. Dickinson (19), Ursinus (15), Washington College (14), and McDaniel (6) rounded out the poll in fourth through seventh, respectively.

The 2021-22 season opens up this Saturday, Oct. 23 with all seven teams competing in Centennial meets. The Centennial Conference Championship is slated for Feb. 17-20 at F&M, while the NCAA Championships will take place from March 16-19 in Indianapolis, Ind. 

2021-22 Schedule | 2020 Championship Results | 2019-20 All-Centennial Team | Record Book | All-Time Top 10

Centennial Conference swimming is back this winter after a year-long hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the most recent CC Championship in 2020, Franklin & Marshall reclaimed the Centennial crown for the first time since 2010 and ninth time overall. Gettysburg and Swarthmore were close behind the Diplomats in second and third place, respectively, marking the closest-ever top-three team finish in Centennial history. 

A total of 16 All-CC swimmers return to the pool this season, including six who have received all-conference honors at multiple Centennial Championship meets. F&M leads the way with seven returning all-stars, followed by Gettysburg (4), Swarthmore (4), and Ursinus (1). 

The Diplomats welcome back five All-Americans - Tom Graminski, Chris Schiavone, Brendan Cline, Willem Stoll and Alec Wahl, while Graminski also returns as the reigning CC Most Outstanding Performer. Graminski collected six golds at the 2020 championship en route to top performer accolades. Graminski, Schiavone, Cline and Wahl were each All-CC selections in multiple events at both the 2019 and 2020 championships, while Stoll was an All-CC performer in 2020. Other returning all-stars for F&M include Matt Hopkins and Cameron Mehta. 

Swarthmore's quartet of returners includes the last two Outstanding Rookie Performers - Jeremy Rockaway and Ben Freeman - along with Horace Shew and Ethan Bergmann. Rockaway, the 2019 Outstanding Rookie at the CC meet, earned a pair of All-America medals at the 2019 national championships. Shew and Bergmann captured all-conference awards at both the 2019 and 2020 CC meets. Bergmann and Freeman were named All-Americans in 2020. 

Six swimmers hold or share (as part of relays) Centennial records entering the 2021-22 campaign. Graminski is the current record holder in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, Schiavone owns the 100 freestyle mark, Rockaway holds the 200 butterfly mark individually and is part of the record 400 medley relay team, while Bergmann, Shew and Freeman are each part of one record relay. 

Gettysburg's roster is headlined by all-conference returners Nick Cox, Oliver Pickering, Sam Nonemaker, and Duncan Proxmire, while Ursinus' Ryan Carkhuff is back for the Bears after claiming a spot on the All-CC squad in 2019. 

2021-22 Centennial Conference Men's Swimming Preseason Poll