SAC releases preseason polls, Swimmers to Watch

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – The Wingate University Bulldogs have been picked as the favorites to win the 2023 South Atlantic Conference Men's Swimming Championship, according to the preseason coaches' poll released today.

The Bulldogs earned 25 points in the poll with five first place votes.

Carson-Newman University earned the second spot with 21 points and a first place vote, while Lenoir-Rhyne University placed third in the poll with 17 points and Catawba College placed fourth with 13 points.

Mars Hill University and Emory & Henry College came in at a tie for the No. 5 spot with seven points each to round out the poll.

This will be the first year the SAC has sponsored men's and women's swimming as a championship sport. Featuring six teams, all of which competed in the former Bluegrass Mountain Conference. Wingate placed second as a team in last year's Bluegrass Mountain Championship, followed by Carson-Newman in third, Lenoir-Rhyne in fifth, Catawba in sixth, Emory & Henry in seventh, and Mars Hill in eighth.

In addition to the preseason poll, the SAC also released the Men's Swimmers to Watch list. This list includes the top athletes from each school to keep an eye on during the 2022-23 swimming season. The full list of athletes to watch is listed below by team.

The 2022-23 SAC swimming season got underway earlier this month and will continue until the 2023 SAC Men's and Women's Swimming Championships at the Mecklenburg County Aquatics Center in Charlotte, N.C. February 8-11.  

2022-23 SAC MEN'S SWIMMING PRESEASON POLL

2022-23 SAC Men's Swimmers to Watch

Carson-Newman

Henrique Januario 
Matt George
Asger Hartvig
Laurits Kenskov

Catawba
Alejandro Alvarez 

Emory & Henry
Max Betzer
Corey Kidd
Owen Seymour

Lenoir-Rhyne
Micah McRea
Nathan McCormick
Renato Herran

Mars Hill
Raul Briceno
Thomas Gibson

Wingate
Miguel Marcos
Slava Ohnov
Alex Smyre