The Rowan men’s swimming team suffered their second loss this season against bitter New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) rival The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) 161.50-100.50 on Saturday, Jan. 28. This loss not only handed the Profs their first conference defeat of the season, but crowned TCNJ the NJAC Champions.

Despite the loss for Rowan, they had a good meet individually with several Profs finishing in first place with in their respective races.

“Tobias [Cahnbley] had a 1000 [freestyle victory], we had a couple good individualized swims,” senior Joe Rucci said. “We are just trying to bounce back for next week’s meet. I think our mental state was not there but physically we were there. I think that was a huge factor in why we lost.”

Sophomore Tobias Cahnbley finished first place in the 1000 free with a time of 9:47.79. He also had a second place finish in the 500 free and a third place in the 200 backstroke.

Rucci himself would finish in first place in the 200 fly in 1:52.04 and second in the 100 fly in 50.91.

Two juniors, Jack Watson and Paul Riter also claimed to first during the race. For Watson it would be in 100 backstroke and Riter it would be a tie in the 50 free

For the Profs, the loss to TCNJ is something that they will have to overcome. Overcoming a loss is an experience that will help them move forward in the season.

“I think every loss comes with experiences,” Watson said. “I think it was almost good for us to get beat a little bit. It will give us some energy and fire to give us to conferences in a couple of weeks… Obviously there was fire between us with TCNJ.”

Losing hurts in the moment for the Profs but if they are looking to learn from their mistakes and use those lessons, they will as they head toward the bigger Metropolitan Conference Championships.

The Profs are looking to swim through the rest of their season at the highest level possible. This shouldn’t be a problem for Watson who has had a fantastic season so far and has helped get his team to a 4-2 record while also striving towards his individual goals.

“The main goal for this season is to get to NCCAs and get that All-American status,” Watson said. “That I have been striving for all season.”

In order for Watson to reach these goals, the Profs need to bounce back from the loss this Saturday as they travel to Kings Point, New York to take on the United States Marine Merchant Academy on Saturday, Feb. 4.

For comments/questions about this story tweet @TheWhitSports.