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Stockport Metro teammates Luke Critchlow and Tom McCabe have both announced their 2023 commitments to Canisius University. The duo will be a part of the school’s first freshman class since changing its name, having been Canisius College up until this fall.
Luke Critchlow
A distance freestyle and butterfly specialist, Critchlow qualified for the British Swimming Long Course Championships held in July. Competing against the top swimmers in the country, Critchlow finished forty-fourth in the 1500 freestyle, touching in 16:54.55. At that same meet, he also added a forty-seventh-place finish in the 800 free (8:46.08).
Last summer, Critchlow finished near the top of his age group in multiple events at the 2022 British Summer Championships. He took eleventh out of 17-year old in the 1500 free (16:39.23), twentieth in the 800 free (4:13.61), eighteenth in the 200 fly (2:13.63), and twelfth in the 800 free (8:46.42).
Top LCM Times (and SCY Conversions)
- 400/500 free – 4:11.42 (4:41.70)
- 800/1000 free – 8:40.08 (9:42.72)
- 1500/1650 free – 16:38.89 (16:19.30)
- 200 fly – 2:11.29 (1:55.75)
With his current converted times, Critchlow is already set to provide the Golden Griffins solid depth across the distance freestyle and butterfly events. During the 2022-2023 school year, his converted time in the 1500/1650 free would have ranked third on the team while his time in the 400/500 free would have been the fourth fastest on the program.
At the conference level, his lifetime best times already put him within scoring range. At the 2023 MAAC Swimming and Diving Championships, it took 16:05.75 to make the top-8 and a time of 16:19.30 would have scored four points in fourteenth. While he would have missed finals in the 500 free, his converted time in the 200 fly would have also been fast enough for fourteenth overall.
Tom McCabe
McCabe and Critchlow boast nearly identical event lineups, with both specializing in the distance freestyle and butterfly events.
At a short course meters meet last November, McCabe hit new lifetime bests in nearly all of his events. His biggest drop came in the 200 free where he touched at 1:56.48. He also added new bests in the 100 free (53.71), 400 free (4:09.76), and 200 IM (2:13.75).
More recently, McCabe posted a new lifetime best performance in the 400 free (LCM) in March. Racing at the Swim England Northwest Regional Championships, he touched in 4:12.67 during prelims. That time marked an improvement of nearly a second and a half from his previous best of 4:14.03.
Top LCM Times (and SCY Conversions)
- 200 free – 1:58.31 (1:43.70)
- 400/500 free – 4:12.67 (4:43.10)
- 1500/1650 free – 16:25.65 (16:06.32)
- 100 fly – 58.30 (51.26)
- 200 fly – 2:26.82 (2:09.74)
McCabe boasts times very similar to those of Critchlow, although McCabe does have a thirteen-second lead in the 1500 free. The 1650 free is where he will likely make the largest impact as a freshman, with his converted time being fast enough to have been the team’s third-best last season. Had he swam that time at the 2023 MAAC Championships, he would have finished in eighth.
The addition of both swimmers will help bolster a distance group that lost one of the team’s top performers from last season, Liam O’Connell. O’Connell, who was a fifth year with the program last season, was the 2023 MAAC Conference champion in the 1650 free as well as bronze medalist in both the 200 free and 500 free.
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