Bullets kick off season on Oct. 23
Men’s Swimming 10/21/2021 2:00:00 PM
The Gettysburg College men’s swimming team just missed capturing the Centennial Conference title in 2020 and following the rollercoaster ride of the last year and a half, the Bullets have the depth and talent to make another run at the crown.
Despite sending out an under-manned lineup, Gettysburg nearly took home the conference title in 2020, finishing second to Franklin & Marshall College by a scant 18.5 point margin. That was the second-closest finish in the history of the event. Just a few short weeks after, the COVID-19 pandemic gripped the world and led to the cancellation of the 2020-21 season in the Centennial Conference.
This season’s roster is dominated by first- and second-year swimmers, although a handful of veterans from the 2020 championship remain. At the top of the list is a formidable senior class led by co-captains Brian Berry (Canton, Conn./Canton) and Oliver Pickering (Millburn, N.J./Millburn). Berry has been a strong contributor in the sprint freestyle events and helped the Bullets win a pair of consolation races in relay events at the last conference championship. A former Centennial silver medalist in the 200 fly, Pickering reset his program record in the event during a late-April dual with Johns Hopkins University last season. The senior posted 1:51.86 in the 200 fly and he owns Gettysburg’s second-fastest mark in the 400 IM (4:07.45).
“Definitely this year is a bit of a challenge,” said Pickering. “Despite what’s changed, essentially what brings us together has stayed the same. I’m here to swim fast and I’d say the great thing about swimming is that all of my teammates are here to swim fast too. We’re all really stoked for the season especially after a year half because of COVID. We all want to be the fastest, best student-athletes we can be while we’re here at Gettysburg.”
Berry and Pickering will look to added leadership from fellow seniors Sam Nonemaker (Shippensburg, Pa./Shippensburg), Duncan Proxmire (McLean, Va./Langly), and Christian Tolino (New Market, Md./Oakdale) as well as juniors Ethan Bruemmer (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon), Nick Cox (Purcellville, Va./Ponte Vedra), and Zac Evans (Egg Harbor Township, N.J./Egg Harbor Township).
Nonemaker is a versatile competitor with top-10 times littering the Gettysburg record book, including the second-fastest time in the 200 IM (1:52.64). He made the most of Gettysburg’s lone appearance in the pool against Johns Hopkins last season, teaming with three members of the Class of 2021 to produce All-America performances in the 200 free relay and 400 free relay. Proxmire is a title threat in all the long-distance races and was the Centennial runner-up in both the 500 and 1650 in 2020. Proxmire, who took a gap year in 2020-21, is the program record holder in the 1000 free (9:37.76) and ranks second and third all-time in the 500 (4:32.68) and 1650 (15:57.86). Tolino produced strong showings in the backstroke races at the conference meet two years ago, including winning the consolation heat of the 100.
Cox was one of the top newcomers in the conference two years ago and claimed the Centennial title in the 100 back at 50.56. He was also the runner-up in the 200 back and made the finals of the 100 fly. He owns the program’s second-fastest times in both the 100 (50.37) and 200 (1:51.55) backstroke races. Evans was a conference finalist in the 100 breast, while Bruemmer made the consolation finals in both butterfly races two years ago.
While the veterans will undoubtedly take the early lead on the pool deck, the returning class of sophomores and new first-years will look to make their mark in the pool. Several members of the sophomore class went head-to-head with national title contenders from Johns Hopkins in last season’s lone competition and produced noteworthy performances, including Luke McKenna’s (Collegeville, Pa/Spring-Ford) victory in the 500 free with the fourth-fastest time in program history (16:16.47). Despite that experience, a sizeable number of swimmers on the roster were limited in their training over the past year and are now getting reacquainted with the water and their teammates.
“I think it really just comes down to two things,” said Berry. “I think getting back to that team energy after a year that’s been pretty disruptive is super important for the men’s team right now. A lot of guys have taken a year off. A lot of people don’t really know a lot of other people on the team. I think getting back to that team mentality and really coming together is a huge goal for us. I think we’ve been doing really well and I hope we can continue to do.
“Number two is just working hard. Like I said, a lot of people right now don’t really know where they’re at swimming-wise. We’re not really focused on the times right now; it’s about putting in the work and the times will follow.”
The Bullets have a busy schedule in the opening semester with a pair of Centennial meets against Washington College and Dickinson College to kick things off on Oct. 23. Gettysburg competes in four additional duals before hosting its two-day invitational on Dec. 3-4. The second semester sees the team compete in two conference duals against McDaniel College (Jan. 21) and Swarthmore College (Jan. 29) and two non-conference meets with Washington and Lee University (Jan. 15) and the University of Mary Washington (Jan. 22).
The Centennial Conference Championship is slated for Feb. 17-20 at F&M.
Gettysburg was picked third in the CC Preseason Poll. Swarthmore College and F&M split six first-place votes with the Garnet edging out the Diplomats by a single point for the top spot.
The Bullets have plenty of bodies to dive into the water and compete with the best swimmers in the conference this season. The key will be getting everyone swimming their best at the same time and making another run at the conference crown.
“I’m excited this year to see how we each as individuals can perform up to our potential and put it all out there at conferences,” stated Pickering. “I think we are all individually focused on going as fast as we can and that’s a great goal because going fast as an individual goes hand-in-hand with forming a strong team.”
