EWING, N.J. – The No. 11 TCNJ men's swimming team got their 2026-27 campaign started in the right way, taking first place in every event en route to a season-opening victory.
 
The Lions swept the top three spots in seven of their 16 events, starting with the meet-opening 200 medley relay. TCNJ's A, B, and C relays finished in that order, and were led off by rookies Michael Strucko, Jacob Muntz, and Brandon Calderone respectively in the backstroke leg. Will Heinze put in a sub-10-minute performance in the 1000 free (9:55.52) to win the event, while Pablo Salazar (1:46.84), Steven Bendoraitis (1:46.95), and Dylan Dewitt (1:47.65) took up the top three spots in the 200 freestyle. The Lions then swept the podium in the 50 backstroke and the 50 breaststroke — with Strucko winning the former and Tyler McGeehan the latter — before Joe McChesney (49.89) and M.J. Hoban (21.04) won the 100 butterfly and 50 freestyle events prior to the first intermission.
 
Following the first break, Riley Smith took first place in the 100 freestyle (46.93), followed up by Strucko's second individual win of the afternoon in the 100 backstroke (52.13). McGeehan (58.22) and McChesney (22.86) then also got their second individual first-place swims in the 100 breaststroke and 100 butterfly, with their races separated by a Matt Liotti win victory in the 500 freestyle (4:49.92). Salazar then joined the multi-win club in the 200 IM (1:58.63), the penultimate event of the afternoon, and TCNJ's B relay closed out the meet with another win in the 200 freestyle relay (1:25.82).
 
Dougie Cornish and Josh Bouchard were also in action on the diving boards for TCNJ. In his first collegiate meet, Cornish earned marks of 288.38 and 252.83 in the 1-meter and 3-meter respectively. Bouchard logged scores of 177.00 and 153.98 in those events.
 
The Lions are back at home next Saturday, October 31, where they will face off against both Ramapo and Felician in a tri-meet. That meet is scheduled to begin at 1:00 PM.