Talented swimmers and divers throughout The College of Wooster men's swimming and diving program has the Fighting Scots poised to make a big mark come the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships in February.

"There is a lot of enthusiasm for this year," summed up head coach Rob Harrington. "Our team culture and team spirit are really good. We have a lot of new faces to mix with a good returning core, so we have the potential to do some very good things."

Seniors Callum Glover, Will Laubacher, Will Laymon, and Boston Sullivan headline Wooster's core returning nucleus and provide plenty of firepower on relays. Glover's specialty is the sprint freestyle and butterfly events, Laubacher has emerged as a consistent point producer in the middle and distance freestyle events, Laymon is one of the NCAC's top backstrokers, and Sullivan is one of the program's fastest breaststrokers.

"Callum looks strong to start the season," shared Harrington. "He looks to be where he was last year to start the season, or even maybe a little bit better. Will Laymon is still going to be a go-to person in the backstroke, Boston has really taken on a leadership role within our program, and I think we are going to see great things from Will Laubacher in distance events."

Wooster has "always kind of recruited towards the specialty strokes and individual events," per Harrington, who has a track record of All-America and all-conference performers from his approach.

Laymon is the men's latest success story from the recruiting approach, having developed into a multi-event championship final qualifier in arguably the strongest NCAA Div. III swimming and diving conference. The senior could branch out from the backstroke and be more of a featured swimmer in the 100 butterfly, per Harrington.

Senior Stu Bovich backs Laymon up in the backstroke among the returnees. Per Harrington, "Stu is a tremendous team contributor. He is such a positive individual that he brings up the level of effort of everyone around him. He will very much look to contribute in the backstroke and butterfly events this year."

Harrington could see some cross over from other events into the backstroke ones this year. Among the returnees, that could include sophomores Zach Cornberg and Eli Tansey.

Sullivan is part of a record-holding medley relay at Wooster and swept the conference consolation finals in the breaststroke as a sophomore. He will be looking to qualify for the championship final as a senior and has "looked amazing in the water right now," per Harrington.

Among the returnees, Harrington is looking to juniors Ryan Stokes and Caleb Sun to provide steady backup to Sullivan. Junior Dillon Boespflug is another returning breaststroker, but will miss the season due to injury and a planned study-abroad semester in the spring.

"I think Ryan and Caleb will both have tremendous seasons," said Harrington. "They both wrapped up the season very well last year with lifetime bests in their respective events."

Wooster graduated "quite a bit" from the butterfly specialists, per Harrington, who projects to lean on junior Philipp Drappatz and senior Matt Kaley to lead the way among the returnees in the 200-yard race. In the 100 butterfly, Harrington sees more of a committee approach as he looks to determine the best position for the Scots to maximize success come the conference meet. At the onset, Harrington sees Laymon playing a big role in the 100 butterfly, while also leaning on Glover, junior Ethan Neuner, and Kaley among the returnees.

"Ethan is a tremendous all-around swimmer for us," shared Harrington. "It is possible we might see him in the 200 butterfly this year. However, we have put a real focus on his freestyle to start the year. He is in a really good spot, and I would look for Ethan to be a major contributor in the sprint freestyle and butterfly events."

Glover and Laubacher have "been pushing each other pretty hard in practice," according to Harrington, who feels he has a "real dynamic duo" leading the freestyle swimmers. While Glover primarily focuses on the sprints, Laubacher is someone who can cover all the freestyle distances.

With middle distance and distance freestyle being areas of great depth, Harrington could see Neuner taking on a lead role in some sprint races this winter. Drappatz, Tansey, and Cornberg will all be counted on to be major factors in the middle distance and distance freestyles, per Harrington.

Sullivan is Wooster's leader in the 200 individual medley. Harrington sees Kaley and Stokes holding major roles in both the 200 and 400 individual medleys throughout the season.

Diving is critical to Wooster's success, and the Scots are fortunate to have two standouts in junior Chris Caldwell and senior Noah McDonald. Both were top-seven finishers on the one-meter board at last year's conference meet. McDonald added a sixth-place showing in the three-meter competition.

"Chris and Noah have progressed significantly over the past two years," said Harrington. "We will be looking for them to be a major contributing factor for us in dual and championship meets this season."

Wooster's roster is rounded out by first-years Gabe Bettross, Evan Hasenkampf, Zach Joyal, Erich Lotter, Elliott Mainwaring, Hayden Price, and sophomore transfer Ethan Towle.

"We are excited for our new team members," said Harrington. "They are adding quite a bit of depth in the distance events, especially. I think that will pay off for us come the conference championships, where we see a lot of swimmers on other teams saturate the sprints with entries."

Wooster opens the season with a home dual meet against Malone University on Saturday, Nov. 1. The program hosts its annual three-day midseason Wooster Invitational Dec. 4-6 at Chris Matthew Aquatics Center/Ellen Shapiro Natatorium.

"Our meet schedule gives us opportunities to find the strength of our lineup as we work towards the conference championships in February at Denison University," wrapped up Harrington.