Ewing, NJ … The College of New Jersey men's swimming and diving team opens up its season and New Jersey Athletic Conference schedule this Saturday when they host Ramapo College in TCNJ's Aquatic Center at 2 p.m.
 
The Lions are coming off of another strong season in which they finished 12^th at the 2011 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. They also won their fifth straight Metropolitan championships and claimed another NJAC title. Heading into 2011-12, TCNJ has re-loaded with talent heading into this season.
 
“Our main objectives are pretty much the same, which is to win the NJAC and METs and finish top 10 at NCAAs,” noted head coach Brian Bishop, who enters his 23^rd season with the Lions. “We're returning five All-Americans and their past success and leadership should set the tone for how we go about our business. We have several rookies that are new to the roster that really show promise.”
 
The five members Bishop refers to are senior diver T.J. Burns (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights), senior freestyler Ryan Clark (Ocean, NJ/St. Augustine), junior sprint specialist Adam Schneider (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East), sophomore Stephen Gibson freestyler (Sewell, NJ/St. Augustine), and versatile sophomore Steven Tarnowski (Ramstein, Germany/Ramstein American). They all returned from Knoxville, Tennessee with All-American citations and will look to return to form this season.
 
After back-to-back NJAC dual meets with Ramapo and Montclair State University, the Lions will host Division II foe Southern Connecticut University. Other notable events are the Princeton University Invitational, TCNJ Invitational beginning December 2^nd, and a tri-meet with West Chester University and Johns Hopkins University. How each meet is approached by Bishop and his legion of swimmers will depend on the stages of their training.
 
“I have to wait and see where we are after the next couple weeks of training,” explained Bishop. “Then we will determine which meets we will get after it and try to post some qualifying times. You can't peak too often, and have to mindful of peaking at the right time.”
 
Schneider and Clark will lead the sprinters, while senior co-captain Michael Caputo (Staten Island, NY/Curtis) will spearhead the distance free. Tarnowski and junior Evan Paulan (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) head the individual medley and breast stroke swimmers, and in the butterfly spring and distance events, senior Jeff Capone (Toms River, NJ/Toms River South) and sophomore William Kasper (Forked River, NJ/Monsignor Donovan) will be looked upon to score points.
 
Some new caps in the pool this season include Brian Perez (Matawan, NJ/St. John Vianney), Matthew Van Biervliet (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough), Aleksander Burzynksi (Colonia, NJ/St. Joseph's), and Mark Marsella (Elmwood Park, NJ/Bergen Catholic). Those freshmen, along with several others, will develop and contribute throughout the season, according to Bishop.
 
The MET championships are set for February 17 - 19 at Rutgers University and the 2012 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships will be held in Indianapolis, IN from March 21 - March 24.