2007-08 Men's Swimming & Diving Season Outlook

Scots Eyeing a Move Into Top-Three of NCAC

Logan LaBerge may challenge Wooster's school records in the 100 and 200 backstroke.

Sporting a program-record 31-man roster this season, which includes 15 individual scorers at previous North Coast Athletic Conference Championships, The College of Wooster may be primed to move into the top-three of the preeminent swimming conference in NCAA Div. III. The Fighting Scots are on a string of four-straight fourth-place finishes in the league, and fifth-year head coach Rob Harrington firmly believes they possess the depth and talent necessary to move up.

Leading the way is expected to be Eric Babbitt. The sophomore standout was just shy of all-NCAC status, coming in fourth in the 200 butterfly (1:54.96) and sixth in the 100 fly (52.37). Babbitt, who also took 11th in the 500 freestyle (4:44.11), narrowly missed out on becoming the first Scot from the men’s team to qualify for the NCAA Div. III Championships since 2001, as his time in the 200 fly was a provisional standard for nationals, but he ended up falling short of the cut.

In addition to Babbitt, Logan LaBerge and Ryan Radtke look to build off impressive freshman seasons. Radtke broke a 28-year old school record in the 200 IM, while placing 12th in that event at NCAC’s (1:58.74). He was also 12th in the conference in the 100 breast (1:01.60), while LaBerge made a significant impact with top-15 showings in three events – 11th in the 100 backstroke (54.33), 13th in the 200 free (1:47.74), and 14th in the 500 free (4:48.79).

While that trio of sophomores may grab the attention, this season’s senior class of swimmers should not be overlooked. Mateo Chinchilla has been one of the NCAC’s top breaststrokers throughout his career and is coming off of 9th-place finishes in the 100 (1:00.10) and 200 (2:11.66) last year. In fact, his time in the 200 set a school record and he’s just six-hundredths of a second away from a Wooster-best in the 100 as well.

Additionally, seniors Matt Dominski, Kyle Oaks, Ted Polley, Joe Thomas, and Joe Witkowski have been consistent scorers at the conference level. Dominski is a butterfly specialist, having reached the consolation finals all three years in both the 100 and 200, including 10th- and 13th-place efforts in the 200 (1:59.10) and 100 (53.14) last season, respectively. Oaks has served as the team’s top sprint freestyler at times during his career, while Polley and Witkowski will likely give the Scots a strong 1-2 punch in the distance freestyles. Witkowski has been as high as 10th in the NCAC in the 1650 (17:37.57), that coming at the 2006 meet.

Another key veteran in the pool will be junior breaststroker Andrew Olsen. He’s been swimming nearly identical times as Chinchilla, finishing 10th in the league in both the 100 (1:00.38) and 200 (2:11.75) last winter.

Sophomore sprinter Michael Saltzman, junior sprinter John Cushing, junior backstroker Johann Weber, and sophomore butterflyer Chris Weston will provide depth as proven scorers at the NCAC Championships.

The divers could play an integral role in Wooster’s success. Senior Alex Gauvin returns following a year away from the program and looks to pick up where he left off, as he nearly won a conference title, taking runner-up honors on the three-meter board (373.40) in 2006. Junior Dustin Klein scored on the one-meter board last season, placing eighth overall (286.30).

An influx of 10 freshmen give the Scots additional cause for optimism. That group is expected to be paced by sprinter Brendan Horgan, Adel El-Adawy, a native of Egypt, and Jeremy Bervoets.