GREENSBORO, N.C. (March 20, 2024) – The 2024 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships are underway, and the Denison University men are in sixth place through five of 20 events. Denison totaled 59 points on day one. The Big Red trail fifth-place Kenyon College (67 points) by eight points. New York University is in the lead with 81 points, followed by Williams College (79.50) in second, Emory University (74) in third and the University of Chicago (70) in fourth.

Denison got off to a good start as it put one swimmer into the A Final and three into the B Final in the first event, the 500 freestyle. Lucas Conrads qualified for the A Final with a sixth-place time of 4:27.35 in the prelims. Also in the prelims, Luke Landis (4:28.77) was 10th, Christian McIntire (4:28.90) was 11th and Tyler Distenfeld (4:29.08) was 15th.

In the A Final, Conrads finished seventh with a time of 4:28.23 while in the B Final, Distenfeld (4:27.20) was second (10th overall), Landis (4:30.08) was fifth (13th overall) and McIntire (4:30.15) was right behind him in sixth (14th overall). For Conrads, it was his third straight All-American performance in the 500 freestyle. Denison posted 26 team points in the first event on Wednesday to take the team lead.

Patrick Daly qualified for the A final in the 200 IM with a fourth-place time of 1:47.35 while Gavin Jones (1:49.01) and Devin Testin (1:49.21) finished in 10th and 13th place, respectively, and both qualified for the B Final. In the A Final, Daly (1:47.06) finished sixth for the second year in a row and earned his third straight All-American honor in the event after finishing 12th as a freshman two years ago. In the B Final, Jones (1:49.01) was fourth (12th overall) and Testin (1:49.26) was sixth (14th overall). With two Big Red swimmers also in the consolation finals, Denison sat tied for first with NYU as both squads posted 47 points apiece after two events.

Denison did not have any athletes qualify for the finals in the 50 freestyle, but Denison and NYU remained tied for first with 47 points after three events, and then in the 200 medley relay, Denison's group of Shea Card, Elijah Venos, Richie Stewart and Daly were ninth in the prelims with a time of 1:28.82 and were fifth in the B Final (13th overall) at 1:29.22 as Denison moved back to sixth place in the team standings.

On the 3-meter diving board, Nick Fogle finished 13th in both the prelims (433.15) and the finals (445.05). His best dive in the prelims was a forward 3 1/2 somersault tuck (107C) worth 49.00 points on his eighth attempt, while in the finals, each of his final three dives scored over 50 points, including a total of 54.00 points on a forward 2 1/2 somersault 1 twist pike (5152B) on his fifth dive. After diving, Williams (51.5) took a one-half point lead over Denison (51) in the team standings for first as only the 200 medley relay remained on day one. 

Denison will return to the Greensboro Aquatics Center on Thursday, March 21, for day two of the NCAA Division III Championships, where they will compete in the 200 free relay, 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free and the 400 medley relay. Preliminaries begin at 10 a.m. followed by finals at 6 p.m.

First-Team All-Americans (Top-8):
Lucas Conrads – 7th place in the 500 freestyle – 4:28.23
Patrick Daly – 6th place in the 200 IM – 1:47.06
 
Second-Team All-Americans (Top-16):
Tyler Distenfeld – 10th place in the 500 freestyle – 4:27.20
Luke Landis – 13th place in the 500 freestyle – 4:30.08
Christian McIntire – 14th place in the 500 freestyle – 4:30.15
Gavin Jones – 12th place in the 200 IM – 1:49.01
Devin Testin – 14th place in the 200 IM – 1:49.26
Nick Fogle – 13th place on the 3-meter diving board – 445.05
Shea Card, Elijah Venos, Richie Stewart and Patrick Daly – 13th place in the 200 medley relay – 1:29.22
 
Day One Results