The Rowan men’s swimming team placed fourth in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championship this past weekend at the Aquaplex in Hampton, Virginia. The team finished with 913 total points. Merchant Marine, Salisbury, and first-place finishing The College of New Jersey finished ahead of the Profs. 

There are two ways to qualify for the NCAA Division III National Championship in March, with two selected times known as the ‘A’ and ‘B’ Cut. These times were determined in September. Those who meet the ‘A’ Cut time in their performance automatically earn a spot at the NCAA’s, and those who meet the ‘B’ Cut time do not immediately qualify, but qualify based on the fastest times among the other ‘B’ Cut qualifiers. 

The Profs had multiple solid individual performances, with Junior Braden Sheehan having an impressive weekend after performing consistently well throughout the season. Sheehan earned a first-place crown in the 200 backstroke, earning his 3rd ‘B’ Cut qualification to cap off the weekend. 

Sheehan initially wasn’t going to participate in the 200 backstroke, but head coach Brad Bowser saw an opportunity in Sheehan’s ability for the event after the team’s trip to Villanova for the Sprintfest two weeks ago. 

“I just felt that based on what I saw at the Villanova meet and then comparing times from others in the conference in 100 free and 200 back,” Bowser said. “As a coach, I felt it was the best decision for him to swim the 200 back because it would give him the best shot at making NCAA’s, as well as possibly winning the event.”

Despite limited training throughout the season in the event, Sheehan knew he was going to leave it all out there when the time came.

“When I took off to look at the board, I wasn’t really expecting to see the time I went in and what place I got,” Sheehan said. “In my head, all I was thinking was, ‘What did I just do?’ There was a lot of emotion after that race. All the work I put in lingered in my mind the entire meet, and this one felt really good.”

Another strong individual performance came from Junior Gavin Danze. Despite a foot injury limiting his performance late in the season, Danze was able to finish with a personal-best in the 1650 freestyle with a time of 15:46.01, earning a third-place finish and qualifying for the ‘B’ Cut. 

‘I felt that Gavin did really well, especially after dealing with some injuries the last couple weeks,” Bowser said. “He was really able to step up and put together a great 1650, which I’m very happy with since we were really focusing on that event throughout the year.”

Danze felt great about his performance after overcoming numerous obstacles throughout his collegiate career so far. 

“My freshman year, I was super close to getting ‘B’ Cut. I went 15:52, ‘B’ Cut was 15:50. Sophomore year, I had a bit of a down year. I was sick going into the meet, so after getting the ‘B’ Cut, it felt really great. I’ve been working towards this for the last three years, so having a pretty down year last year and then overcoming all of that going into this year, it felt great,” Danze said.

The rest of the team gave it their all throughout the weekend as well. Another noteworthy performance came from Senior Patrick Clemente, who finished with a personal best in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:04.08. Bowser felt multiple other swimmers of note performed hard outside of Danze and Sheehan.

“There were a lot of great swims from a lot of the guys, but three that come to my mind are Micahel O’Leary, Josh Oliveira, and Patrick Clemente,” Bowser said. “All three of those guys showed great grit and determination for reaching their goals.”

Sheehan felt the team atmosphere throughout the weekend was great, as the team worked hard not just for the sake of their own individual goals, but for the bond the team as a whole built throughout the season. 

‘Julian ]Huynh] gave a beautiful heartfelt speech in the locker room that got everybody ready to go,” Sheehan said. “We swam for more than just individual success on Sunday, we swam for each other.”

With multiple Profs qualifying for the ‘B’ Cut, they now await the selections for the Division III National Championships, which will be decided on Thursday, Feb. 26. 

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