The pool is open, and the Wabash swimming & diving team is ready to jump right back where they left off. Last year the team finished with an impressive third place in the conference against nationally-ranked Kenyon and Denison. With school records on the line and a chance at national attention the swim and dive team have already begun preparing for the season ahead.
“Our coaches have definitely been pushing us,” said captain Ethan Johns ’25. “I think each year I’ve been here; the standard has been increased just a little bit. And it’s pretty noticeable this year. [Our coaches] want and expect a lot out of us.”
A lot of this expectation comes from the new freshman. The total new class size ended at a huge 15 new members, and they are expected to make an impact immediately. Expect names like Ryan West ’28, Lucas Ferreira ’28, and Mason Gilliam ’28 to challenge the conference and fight for new school records.
“I think we could see some really special stuff,” said Head Swimming & Diving coach William Bernhardt. “Some freshman records are getting broken, possibly some school records [will be] broken by some of our freshmen.”
And with such a strong class coming there will be an extra competitive team culture throughout the year.
“Then obviously, the upperclassmen have to step up, and they’re going to be pushed by some of these freshmen, which is a really exciting endeavor,” said Bernhardt.
Returning players such as school record holder in the 200 backstroke Nick Plumb ’27, multi-eventer Quinn Sweeney ’27, team captain Ethan Johns ’25 and diver Alex Arruza ’26 can be expected to further improve and look forward to a great season ahead.
“I could go on and say a million things about every guy on the team,” said Johns. “Overall, I just think we’ve got a great group of guys and we’re going to have a really fun year.”
The team got their first taste of action with a matchup against highly competitive schools at the Dan Ross Indiana Intercollegiate Meet hosted by Purdue University. And the results were just as expected.
“It’s exactly what we needed at that point in the season,” said Bernhardt. “The first meeting of the year is always to just shake the rust off. And it was really fun to see the freshmen finally get some races under their belt.”
This will help prepare the team for a strong outing at their next meet, Indiana DIII Invitational at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, where they will face many of the tough competition around Indiana. Wabash fans should mark their calendars for December 6, as the Little Giants host rival DePauw in what is expected to be a tight matchup as always.
“That is going to be a key meeting for us,” said Bernhardt. This meeting every year always is close, and in the last two years it’s come down to two points or less. Two years ago, we beat them by one point, and last year, they beat us by two points.”
“There’s a lot of fun things that we’re going to try to do for that meeting, and get the fan base excited, and get them here in crowds and upstairs and make it loud and proud with a lot of red,” said Bernhardt.
These meets will all serve to prepare the Wabash team as they look to close the gap at the NCAC Conference Meet on nationally-ranked Denison and Kenyon. The team is looking to breach into the top 25 of ranked teams and looks forward to strong competition at conference.
“The goal is to get third but also to start moving towards second place, closing that point total gap to a reasonable amount so we can hopefully catch them in the next three to five years,” said Bernhardt.
But do not expect the season to end there as NCAA’s approach soon after. With strong conference matchups, the Little Giants seek to send some fast relay teams and individuals to nationals to cap off a hopefully impressive season.
“From a team standpoint, I would like to get a good squad going to NCAA’s,” said Johns. “I think that’s the next step this program needs to take, and I would love to be a part of that step this year.”
For fans of the sport, there is a lot going on in the pool this year for Little Giant fans to come take part in.