There’s snow falling in Minneapolis right now, but with the NCAA Division III men’s swimming championships starting this morning, the forecast calls for reign, purple reign. That’s because when the meet gets underway, the Kenyon Lords will be the odds on favorite as they pursue an unprecedented 27th consecutive NCAA Championship. Williams, Denison, Emory and Johns Hopkins are in a mad scramble. At best, they’ll likely be bridesmaid, at worst they will fall just short of a team trophy. As last week demonstrated, a hot swimmer or a missed exchange could prove the difference-maker.

Just three individuals return to defend national titles and the Lords boast two of them – Andrejs Duda and Davis Zarins – among their team of seventeen. Duda already has six individual titles to his name and heads to the Gopher state with the fastest time in three events. That doesn’t include the 100 butterfly where the three-time champion is seeded fourth. Zarins has a pair of breaststroke titles on his resume and, with Joey Gosselar, make a formidable 1-2 punch. Travis Brennion has enjoyed a breakout season and takes in the fastest time in the 400 IM.

Williams, named CollegeSwimming.com’s Division III Dual Meet Champions, qualified just a dozen swimmers. They’re led, however, by the versatile and talented Will Cunningham. Cunningham is in search of this third 100 backstroke title and a threat to win the 200 IM and 100 freestyle. Stephen Spinelli earned All-American honors in the 200-, 500- and 1650-freestyle. The Ephs enter the meet with highly-ranked relays across the board and if they can hang onto those places, they could equal or better their highest finish since 1982.

Denison will field just ten swimmers in the land of ten-thousand lakes, but one of those is named Bryce Peterson. Peterson could snap Kenyon’s 15-year winning streak in the 1,650 free. Top-ranked in the mile, Peterson is also seeded second in the 200- and 500- freestyle, and capable of contributing to all of the Big Red’s relays. Adam Ulrich is the top seed in the 200 backstroke and breaststroker Alberto Bendenbaugh-Cortes will ensure Denison’s medley relays don’t miss a beat.

Emory and Johns Hopkins lack the star power of Denison and Williams, but both field deep teams. Emory’s Tim Newton carries the fastest time into the 500 freestyle and pair of Justin Hake (butterfly) and Nick Lake (distance) are both All-American material in multiple events while each of the remaining qualifiers is capable of scoring individually. Look out though, the Eagles boast just a handful of seniors and the remaining underclassmen will gain valuable experience to make a big run in 2007. The Bluejays, meanwhile boast backstroker Ryan Kim and flyer Sean Kim along with the fastest 400 Medley Relay in the nation.

Other storylines to follow this weekend include Washington University, which is built around Mike Slavik and Erik Triebe. The pair managed to help eight teammates get into the meet via relays. Slavik, along with Denison’s Bryce Peterson could be the best contestants to not have won an event thus far. Grove City has been making noise with an impressive group of sprinters led by Caleb Courage and Ben Haring. RIT’s Erik Zelbacher is the top seed in the 50 free and could derail Duda’s plans for a fourth-consecutive butterfly title. Washington & Lee’s Michael Ginder occupies the top spot in the 200 free while Stevens Point’s Alex Anderson will aim for his first breaststroke title. IMer Ethan Treat and backstroker Rick Estacio will assure Amherst some elite-level performances.

Host Site

Carleton College hosts the 32nd edition of the best meet in small college swimming. The meet begins today and runs through Saturday.