WINTHROP, Mass. – The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving Championships will take place this weekend at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) Sports and Recreation Center in Worcester, Mass. All eight men's and seven women's swimming and diving teams will compete in the three-day event that takes place from Friday, Feb. 2 to Sunday, Feb. 4.
Each day of the meet will be broken into a morning and evening session with preliminary heats beginning at 10 a.m. each day. Diving events will follow prelims with finals scheduled to begin around 6 p.m.
For those who are unable to attend this weekend's Championships, the Conference has partnered with Abreu Media Productions to provide a live stream for each session of the event. The stream can be viewed on the GNAC YouTube channel with direct links to each linked below.
Norwich comes into this year's championships as the reigning GNAC Champion for both the men and women. The Cadets were also picked as the favorites heading into the 2024 event in the Pre-Championship Coaches Polls, which were conducted last week.
In the women's poll, the Cadets earned 60 points and five of a possible first place votes. So far this season, they have been victorious in four of their six dual meets and performed well at the Roger Williams Invitational to open the season with a second place finish. Last year's title was Norwich's first since the 2000-01 season.
Simmons is the projected runner-up for the women. The Sharks earned 57 points and the last three first place votes cast in this year's poll. They sit at 6-3 in dual meets this year.
Saint Joseph's (Maine) and Regis ranked third and fourth in the women's poll with 45 and 41 points, respectively. Elms (32 points), the University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) (24), Colby-Sawyer (16), and Albertus Magnus (13) rounded out the poll.
For the men, it was a clean sweep for Norwich as it earned 49 points and all seven first place votes cast by the men's head coaches. NU will be looking to add some hardware to the trophy case as it has won all, but one of the GNAC titles since the event was elevated to championship status in 2017-18. The Cadets also claimed titles when the event was an invitational. They sit at 4-2 in dual meets on the season.
Regis comes into this year's men's championship as the runner-up in this year's poll, collecting 38 points. Saint Joseph's (Maine) and the University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) both earned 29 points to tie for third in the men's voting. Colby-Sawyer (19), Elms (17), and Albertus Magnus (15) closed out the poll in that order.
GNAC Women's Swimming & Diving Pre-Championship Poll:
| 1. | Norwich | 60 (5 First Place Votes) |
| 2. | Simmons | 57 (3) |
| 3. | Saint Joseph's (Maine) | 45 |
| 4. | Regis | 41 |
| 5. | Elms | 32 |
| 6. | University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) | 24 |
| 7. | Colby-Sawyer | 16 |
| 8. | Albertus Magnus | 13 |
GNAC Men's Swimming & Diving Pre-Championship Poll:
| 1. | Norwich | 49 (7 First Place Votes) |
| 2. | Regis | 38 |
| T-3. | Saint Joseph's (Maine) | 29 |
| T-3 | University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) | 29 |
| 5. | Colby-Sawyer | 19 |
| 6. | Elms | 17 |
| 7. | Albertus Magnus | 15 |
EVENT SCHEDULE
Women's events will precede the men's events
DAY 1 - Friday, Feb. 2
Preliminaries - 10 a.m. Finals - 6 p.m.
Livestream Links: Prelimaries | Finals
200 Medley Relay
400 IM
200 Freestyle
50 Butterfly
100 Breaststroke
200 Backstroke
1000 Freestyle
3-Meter Diving (6 dives)
400 Freestyle Relay
3-Meter Diving (11 dives)
DAY 2 - Saturday, Feb. 3
Preliminaries - 10 a.m. Finals - 6:05 p.m.
Livestream Links: Prelimaries | Finals
200 Freestyle Relay
1-Meter Diving (6 dives)
100 Butterfly
500 Freestyle
50 Backstroke
50 Freestyle
200 Breaststroke
100 IM
800 Freestyle Relay
1-Meter Diving (11 dives)
DAY 3 - Sunday, Feb. 4
Preliminaries - 10 a.m. Finals - 5 p.m.
Livestream Links: Prelimaries | Finals
100 Freestyle
50 Breaststroke
1650 Freestyle
100 Backstroke
200 Butterfly
200 IM
400 Medley Relay
ABOUT THE GREAT NORTHEAST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 16 member institutions and over 4000 student-athletes across the New England region. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 22 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience.
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