Courtesy: CSCAA
The College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) released its Division III Preseason Swimming & Diving Poll today. The committee, comprised of Division III coaches and select media outlets, ranks the top 25 teams in the nation based on dual meet strength. Denison men and Kenyon women are the favorites heading into the 2021-22 season. The polls were not conducted during the 2020-21 season due to COVID.
On the men’s side, Denison tallied 13 of the possible 15 first-place votes. Kenyon sits in second with 352 points, just ahead of third place Johns Hopkins with 350 points. Johns Hopkins earned the remaining two first place votes. Emory (326) and Chicago (309) round out the top five on the men’s side. In all, twenty-eight men’s teams received votes.
The Kenyon women earned nine of the top votes to land them at the top of the polls, with 369 total points. The remaining first place votes went to second-ranked Emory (360). Denison ranked third with 351 points. NYU is fourth, earning 323 points. Chicago takes the fifth spot with 307 points. Thirty women’s teams received votes.
You can find a complete list of the rankings at: www.cscaa.org/top25
The rankings are voted on by CSCAA-member coaches and select media. The men’s committee chair is Sean Tedesco (USMMA). Regional chairs include: Brad Bowser (Rowan, Northeast South), Paul Bennett (WPI, Northeast North), Brent Summers (Willamette, Midwest South) and Keith Crawford (Rose Hulman, Central).
The women’s committee chair is Jake Taber (Hope). Regional chairs include: Ben Delia (Franklin & Marshall, Northeast South), Brad Burnham (Bodwin, Northeast North), Joh Duncan (Southwestern, Midwest South) and Justin Zook (St. Kates, Central).
The remaining polls are scheduled for release on November 11, December 9, January 19, and February 9 and March 4. These dates are subject to change.
Division III Men
| Rk | Prv | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denison | 373 | |
| 2 | Kenyon | 352 | |
| 2 | Johns Hopkins | 350 | |
| 4 | Emory | 326 | |
| 5 | Chicago | 309 | |
| 6 | MIT | 306 | |
| 7 | WashU | 294 | |
| 8 | NYU | 258 | |
| 9 | Carnegie Mellon | 257 | |
| 10 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps | 243 | |
| 11 | Pomona-Pitzer | 225 | |
| 12 | Williams | 202 | |
| 13 | Tufts | 181 | |
| 14 | Calvin | 179 | |
| 15 | TCNJ | 165 | |
| 16 | Hope | 159 | |
| 17 | John Carroll | 136 | |
| 18 | Amherst | 117 | |
| 19 | Rowan | 104 | |
| 20 | Merchant Marine | 95 | |
| 21 | Franklin & Marshall | 72 | |
| 22 | California Lutheran | 70 | |
| 23 | Coast Guard | 44 | |
| 24 | Swarthmore | 37 | |
| 25 | Gustavus | 14 |
Also Receiving Votes
Case Western Reserve (4), Roanoke (2), Washington & Lee (1)
Division III Women
| Rk | Prv | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenyon | 369 | |
| 2 | Emory | 360 | |
| 3 | Denison | 351 | |
| 4 | NYU | 323 | |
| 5 | Chicago | 307 | |
| 6 | Williams | 297 | |
| 7 | Johns Hopkins | 295 | |
| 8 | MIT | 275 | |
| 9 | Tufts | 251 | |
| 10 | Carnegie Mellon | 224 | |
| 11 | WashU | 212 | |
| 12 | Amherst | 204 | |
| 13 | Pomona-Pitzer | 196 | |
| 14 | Saint Kate’s | 191 | |
| 15 | Rowan | 175 | |
| 16 | Swarthmore | 146 | |
| 17 | Hope | 139 | |
| 18 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps | 112 | |
| 19 | Gustavus | 107 | |
| 20 | Washington & Lee | 94 | |
| 21 | Bates | 77 | |
| 22 | Saint Olaf | 55 | |
| 23 | Gettysburg | 49 | |
| 24 | Calvin | 38 | |
| 25 | Bowdoin | 12 |
Also Receiving Votes
Washington & Jefferson (8), Coast Guard (5), Wheaton (MA) (1), Rhodes (1), Franklin (1)
Men’s Regional Rankings:
Central: 1. Denison 2. Kenyon 3. Chicago 4. Calvin 5. Hope 6. John Carroll 7. Gustavus Adolphus 8. Case Western 9. Carthage 10. Albion
Northeast-North: 1. MIT 2. New York University 3. Williams 4. Tufts 5. Amherst 6. U.S. Merchant Marine Academy
7. U.S. Coast Guard Academy 8. Colby 9. Bates 10. Bowdoin
Northeast-South: 1. Carnegie Mellon 2. TCNJ 3. Rowan 4. Franklin & Marshall 5. Swarthmore 6. Gettysburg 7. SUNY-Geneseo 8. RIT 9. Ithaca 10. Stevens
West Midwest: 1. Johns Hopkins 2. Emory 3. Washington University 4. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 5. Pomona-Pitzer Colleges 6. California Lutheran 7. Roanoke 8. Washington & Lee 9. Birmingham Southern 10. Mary Washington
Women’s Regional Rankings:
Central: 1. Kenyon 2. Denison 3. Chicago 4. Saint Catherine 5. Hope 6. Gustavus Adolphus 7. Saint Olaf 8. Calvin 9. Franklin 10. Albion
Northeast-North: 1. New York University 2. Williams 3. MIT 4. Tufts 5. Amherst 6. Bates 7. Bowdoin 8. U.S. Coast Guard Academy 9. Wheaton College 10. U.S. Merchant Marine Academy
Northeast-South: 1. Carnegie Mellon 2. Rowan 3. Swarthmore 4. Gettysburg 5. TCNJ 6. Franklin & Marshall 7. SUNY-Geneseo 8. Ithaca 9. Rochester 10. Dickinson
West Midwest: 1. Emory 2. Johns Hopkins 3. Washington University 4. Pomona-Pitzer Colleges 5. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 6. Washington & Lee 7. Rhodes 8. Mary Washington 9. Trinity University (TX) 10. Birmingham Southern
Men’s Poll Committee
Justin Anderson, Mary Washington; Erica Belcher, NYU; Paul Bennett, WPI; Brad Bowser, Rowan; Peter Casares, Bates; Jennifer Cournoyer, Norwich; Keith Crawford, Rose Hulman; Paul Dotterweich, SUNY Geneseo; David Dow, TCNJ; Rob Harrington, Wooster; Gwynn Harrison, Bridgewater; Sarah James, Southwestern; Michael Kroll, Buffalo State; Pat Smith, Westminster; Brent Summers, Willamette; Sean Tedesco, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy; Jason Weber, Chicago; Seth Weidmann, Carthage; Braden Keith, SwimSwam; David Rieder, Swimming World.
Men’s Poll Committee
Greg Brown, Gettysburg; Brad Burnham, Bowdoin; Jay Daniels, Kalamazoo; Ben Delia, Franklin & Marshall; Jon Duncan, Southwestern; Paul Flinchbauch, Berry; John Geissinger, Hamilton; Katie McArdle, Dickinson; Chris Mhyre, Puget Sound; Shannon O’Brien, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Anne Ryder, Wisconsin-Eau Claire; Meg Sisson French, MIT; Jake Taber, Hope; Mike Tubb, Susquehanna; Jason Weber, Chicago; Toby Wilcox, Birmingham Southern; Justin Zook, St. Kate’s; Braden Keith, SwimSwam; David Rieder, Swimming World.
Nahhh they tweakin
Wait, how did the Washington & Jefferson women (haven’t been strong in the PAC for YEARS) receive 8 votes to potentially be in the top 25 but didn’t even place in the top 10 for their region? These rankings are crazy lol
Nobody cares, work harder
We have remarkably little information at this point, however, as rosters have started appearing in the last few weeks, some interesting things have come to light. For instance, Garrett Clasen joining Chicago is huge (1:47 / 3:52 IM). Or seeing that David Fitch at Kenyon (46.6 1bk, 46.9 fly) is around for a 5th year.
But I doubt those kinds of things are well-reflected in the polls. It is infinitely easier to evaluate about a month from now when every team has had real meets.
Things that are pointless: A Preseason poll for a division where most of the sophomores have not swum in any sort of recognized college meet, the first years are new, and we have no idea who took a gap year or who is there for a fifth year. Can’t wait to see the movement in November once we actually know who teams have swimming…much less how they are swimming
Feel like these rankings are really taking a shot in the dark given the lack of insight into last year for so many D3 teams, including who took the year off versus graduated without a senior year of swimming. Also with these schools having major limitations around training who knows how essentially a year off will effect upper class men swimmers.
Love that Johns Hopkins is in the West Midwest
Is Baltimore in Iowa?
Williams Men about 8-10 spots too low