March 26 saw the start of the CAA swimming and diving championships in Newark, Delaware, with Drexel diving straight into the action. The event started with the men’s one-meter dive, with Will Seely and Jack Patton up first. The preliminary round saw a fourth-place finish for Seely, closely followed by a fifth-place Patton. The finals saw Seely place sixth with a score of 218.60, and Patton finishes two places ahead in fourth with a score of 224.90. The second and final day of action for the divers once again featured Seely and Patton, this time in the men’s three-meter dive. The Dragons finished the preliminary round with scores of 194.95 and 189.40, respectively. In the finals, the Dragons could hardly be separated. Patton scored 183.35 and finished sixth, with Seely finishing just ahead in fifth place with a score of 210.25.
After the women’s swimming CAA Championships in Christiansburg, Virginia, the men’s team headed into the pool on April 1. Drexel began their campaign with the 200 free relay and a group consisting of Kacper Karnik, Alex Flynn, T.J. Given and John Scully. The team finished fifth with a time of 1:22.06. Up next was the 500 free, featuring Xabier Carneiro, Will Soleo and Jake McBride. Carneiro earned himself a spot in the B-Finals with a time of 4:39.29 in the preliminary swim. He went on to race a time of 4:37.86 and placed tenth. Soleo and McBride both earned themselves spots in the A-Finals with times of 4:37.35 and 4:37.26, respectively. McBride placed sixth in the finals with a time of 4:35.34, just beaten by teammate Soleo with a fifth-place finish and a time of 4:33.60. Another special event for the Dragons was the 200 IM, with Paris Raptis reaching the B-Finals with his time of 1:51.62, followed by Zachary Valenzuela’s time of 1:53.58. Valenzuela went on to finish seventh with a time of 1:53.59. Teammate Raptis won the B-Finals with a time of 1:48.95. In the A-Finals, Karnik won a bronze medal with his impressive time of 1:47.29. The 50 free saw both Given and Flynn make the B-Finals, finishing eighth and seventh with times of 21.21 and 21.19. Scully made the A-Finals, eventually finishing sixth place with a time of 20.41. John Klein, Karnik, Raptis and Given teamed up for the night’s last event at the 400 medley relay. They swam a time of 3:20.60 to place fifth.
The second day of competition for the swimmers began with the 200 medley relay. Carson Huff, Karnik, Raptis and Scully swam a time of 1:27.97, earning them a bronze medal to begin the night. Special mention to Karnik whose split time of 53.83 for the breaststroke set a program record. Next up was the 400 IM, featuring Klein, Carneiro, and Soleo. All three Dragons made the B-Finals, with finishing positions of three, fifth and sixth. Third place was earned by Carneiro’s time of 4:02.36. Raptis swam next in the 100 fly, finishing the preliminaries with a time of 47.42 and a place in the finals. He won the 11th medal of his career with his first-place finish and a time of 47.10. Kevin Spear then made it to the B-Finals of the 200 free, placing second with a time of 1:41.41. The 100 breast saw five swimmers in the finals. Brendan Houle and Patrick Cunningham finished the B-Finals in seventh and eighth with times of 1:00.39 and 1:00.62, respectively. In the 100 back, Nikita Timoshenko and Carson Huff earned themselves spots in the B-Finals. Timoshenko finished sixth with a time of 51.73. Huff finished second in the B-Finals with a time of 50.70. The night’s final event was the 800 free relay, with a team consisting of Carneiro, Given, Soleo and Spear. The Dragons swam a time of 6:51.74 and finished fifth.
The final day of competition was yet again jam-packed for the Dragons. Up first was Soleo in the 1650 free, who swam a great time of 15:46.82, which won him the first medal of his career, gold. This was also the program’s first medal in the event since 1994. McBride and Carneiro also swam the event, coming in at fifth and eighth places with times of 16:00.74 and 16:15.86, respectively. In the 200 back, Timoshenko made it to the B-Finals and finished sixth with a time of 1:54.90. Klein and Huff both made the A-Finals. Klein placed eighth with a time of 1:53.56, closely beaten by teammate Huff who swam a time of 1:53.33 and placed seventh. The 100 free saw Spear, Flynn, Scully, and Given all back in action. Flynn and Spear made the B-Finals, placing fourth and eighth. The A-Finals featured both Given, who finished seventh with a time of 45.11, and Scully, who finished eighth with a time of 45.58. Valenzuela and Karnik both swam the 200 breast, with Valenzuela making the B-Finals and consequently winning the B-Final with a time of 2:02.24. Karnik made the A-Finals and went on to earn his third medal of the championships with a winning time of 1:57.61. Up next in the 200 fly were Will Resweber, Klein and Raptis. Resweber made the B-Finals and placed seventh with a time of 1:54.02. Klein and Raptis both made the A-Finals. Klein finished eighth with a time of 1:53.81. Raptis won the silver medal with a time of 1:46.81, the 12th medal of his career. The 400 free relay was the final event of the championship, which saw Given, Spear, Flynn and Scully place third with a time of 2:59.46. The Dragons finished the event in third place with 531 points, beaten by UNCW and Towson.