NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – The TCNJ Men's swimming and diving team saw a record-breaking second day at the 2023 Metropolitan Conference Championships on Friday. The Lions set two new school records, three new individual B-Cut qualifiers and won the final four events in the pool to cap off a stellar day.

Almost exactly a year after setting the school record in the 50 freestyle during the 2022 METs Championships, James McChesney one-upped himself in the event by setting a new school record time of 19.86 to win the A-Finals of the 50 free. The All-American's time currently ranks as the Second-fastest time in all of Division III for the event.

The second broken record by the Lions happened in the 400 Medley Relay. As the leadoff leg, star freshman Andrew Kidchob's swim of 49.41 seconds broke the Lions' 100 backstroke record set by Dante Colucci in 2016. The freshman's stellar performance set the pace for the Lions' dominant relay team which took first-place decisively with a time of 3:17.56, falling just 0.17 seconds off of the school record themselves.

The latter three legs of the relay consisted of Ryan VanDeVeen, Richard Park and McChesney as the anchor.

After trailing Rowan's Toby Cahnbley for the majority of the 500 free race, the Freshman duo of Gavin Formon and Brian Bull both made a valiant final push in the final stretch of the race. In a photo finish, Formon snuck past the Prof in the final couple yards, touching the wall first by nine hundredths of a second to win the event. The freshman's time of 4:30.26 represents a 'B-Cut' mark and a top-five time in program history.

Finishing in third place behind Cahnbley, Bull's late push secured a 'B-Cut' mark of his own as he clocked a time of 4:31.29.

Sophomore Lukas Blach finished in fourth with a personal-best time of 4:34.46. In sixth place was senior Conrad Hoody with a time of 4:41.03. Rounding out the Lion pack in the A-Final was Ethan Laible who finished in eighth with a time of 4:43.51. Laible had set a new personal-best time of 4:40.24 in the prelims round.

Sophomore Ryan Higgins won the 200 IM in a tightly contested A-finals heat that saw Higgins pull away from the field in the final 50 yards of the race with a stellar kick. The sophomore clocked a 'B-Cut' qualifying time of 1:50.36, which ranks as the third-best in Lions history.

Finishing behind him in third place was fellow sophomore Shawn Kushner in a stellar time of 1:52.46. Kushner had won the prelims round with a new personal-best time of 1:51.30. Rounding out the A-Finals was Ryan VanDeVeen in sixth with a time of 1:53.46 and Andrew Walter in eighth with a time of 1:53.79.

Freshman Dylan Negron won the C-Final heat of the event with a time of 1:56.33, which broke his collegiate record set during the prelims race earlier in the day.

Senior Dixon Kahler finished seventh in the A-Final of the 50 free with a time of 21.19. The senior qualified for the fast-heat of the finals after placing seventh during the prelims with a season-best time of 20.94.

In the B-Finals, fellow senior Matt Watts finished sixth after sprinting to a time of 21.43.

On the board, Ethan Weiss placed second in the 1 meter 11-dives after tallying a score of 464.30 in the finals. Michael Wu placed sixth with a score of 411.85.
The Lions ended the preliminary session in the pool with 11 qualifiers for the A-Finals, one in the B-Finals and two C-Finals qualifiers.

The Lions will resume competition in the pool tomorrow with prelims set to begin at 9:30 am and the finals session starting later in the day at 5:30 pm. Events in the pool are the 200 medley relay, 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast and 100 back. Action on the boards will see the men's 3-meter 11 dives at approximately 1:35 pm.