The Rowan men’s swimming team wrapped up their weekend at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships with several All-American honors.

The foursome of Jack Watson, Alex Volin, Tobias Cahnbley and Braden Sheehan captured second-team All-American honors in the 800 free relay, while Watson was named a first-team All-American in the 100 back and Volin received second-team All-American honors in the 200 fly. 

Watson ends his career as a three-time All-American and holds several school records in different events. He talked about what it meant to end his career on a high note.

“It was a big goal to get those awards,” Watson said. “It was especially cool to see the relay get an All-American award just because it was done as a team. It was really cool to see Braden (Sheehan) as just a sophomore get an award like that. It was also nice to see Toby (Cahnbley) go out on a high like that. I’m really proud of the whole team.”

Watson, Volin, and Cahnbley all graduate this May and leave behind a mark of success on the program. Between the three of them, they have a combined eight All-American selections and hold six individual event school records and two relay event school records. Now, head coach Brad Bowser is counting on the next group of swimmers to replicate the success that the dominant trio will leave behind.

“We’re going to be young next year,” Bowser said. “But I think with the recruiting class that is coming in we’ll be just as strong, if not better. Depth-wise, we’ll be better and it’s just going to take some time to really see the talent pop as we work on getting them stronger and having a mentality of success.”

Although the Profs do graduate a lot of talent, the cupboard is not bare. Sheehan still has a couple more years of eligibility and will return with championship experience. Bowser also spoke about what having All-American award winners do to improve the status of his program.

“It’s huge, I just actually had a call with a recruit now and I used it,” Bowser said. “Having the athletes do well like having All-American honors and qualifying for the meets is important. I try not to look at it as something that can be done all the time, I look at it as year-to-year. Having these athletes that at the end of the season have success helps grow our program in a positive way.”

With NCAA Championships signaling the end of the swimming season, Rowan now looks ahead to the offseason and begins to prepare for a new season next winter. Watson has a positive look on what he thinks his now former teammates can accomplish.

“I’m not going to lie, we’re graduating a top-heavy class,” Watson said. “But the young guys are motivated and they’re hungry. I know they’re going to get after it and I’m excited to see what they can do next season. We all want to keep the momentum going.”

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