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Men's Swimming & Diving

Season Preview

2016-17 Schedule Opens in a new window @StanfordMSwim Opens in a new window Instagram Opens in a new window

STANFORD, Calif. – On the heels of its 63rd conference championship, the Stanford men's swimming and diving team begins its 2016-17 season this week when it travels to compete in the Pacific Invitational in Stockton, California.

"Nationally, our goal is to be in the top five. There are some very strong teams with a lot of talent, but we're going to see a quantum leap within our squad this season from all classes," said Goldman Family Director of Swimming Ted Knapp, who welcomes a class of seven talented freshmen to The Farm.

"The enthusiasm and energy from the freshmen is what we had hoped for. They've come in excited and have taken on every challenge in and outside of the pool. They're buying into the process and are excited as can be to be a part of a team that will surprise a lot of people this season – a big part of that will be because of them."

Fresh Faces

The Stanford men's swimming and diving team welcomes seven new faces to The Farm for the 2016-17 season. Stanford's class of 2020 includes:

• Benjamin Ho • 6-2 • Free/Back • Los Altos, Calif. (Saint Francis)
• William Macmillan • 6-3 • Free/IM • Carrboro, N.C. (Carrboro)
• James Murphy • 6-2 • Free/Fly/IM • Clifton, Va. (Robinson Secondary)
• Hank Poppe • 6-7 • Breast/Free • Danville, Calif. (San Ramon Valley)
• Grant Shoults • 6-0 • Free/Fly • Laguna Hills, Calif. (Santa Margarita Catholic)
• True Sweetser • 6-3 • Free • Gainesville, Fla. (Buchholz)
• Cameron Thatcher • 5-10 • Diving • Powell, Ohio (Olentangy Liberty)

Season Schedule

Stanford's season unofficially begins with the annual Alumni Meet on Friday at 5:30 pm PT. The following morning, Stanford heads to Stockton, California, to compete in the Pacific Invitational, which begins at 10 a.m. PT. A live stream will be available at GoStanford.com.

The Cardinal returns home to face Cal on Nov. 2 at Avery Aquatics Center for the first dual of the season before travelling to Austin, Texas, for the Texas Invite, hosted by defending national champion Texas.

Stanford will start 2017 hosting Pacific at Avery Aquatic Center, then travels to face Arizona State and Arizona in coed dual meets on Jan. 20 and Jan. 21, respectively. Stanford faces USC for its third and final home meet Feb. 4, and then travels to Cal on Feb. 18 to finish the regular season. The Pac-12 Championships will be held March 1-4 in Federal Way, Washington, with the NCAA Championships taking place March 22-25 in Indianapolis.

Coaching Staff Set

Knapp enters his fifth year as Goldman Family Director of Men's Swimming and 33rd overall since joining as an assistant coach. Diving coach Patrick Jeffrey returns for his third season with the program after guiding Bradley Christensen and Ted Miclau to All-America performances in 2015-16. 

Following the departure of Scott Armstrong, who currently serves as the director of men's and women's swimming at Johns Hopkins University, Stanford hired former swimmer and five-time individual national champion Jeff Kostoff. In Kostoff's four years at Stanford, the Cardinal went 39-1 in dual meets while winning four Pac-10 titles and three national championships from 1985-87. A two-time Olympian, Kostoff's American age-group record in the 500-yard freestyle stood for 30 years until 2013, while his Stanford program record in the 1,650-yard freestyle stood for 21 years from 1986-2007. He also ran cross country at Stanford, helping the Cardinal win the 1985 Pac-10 crown.

"I'm excited to be back and to be a part of this team -- we have some great incoming freshmen and I feel like I am in a position to make a huge impact with this group," said Kostoff. "The guys have been very responsive; I think everyone is pretty fired up for where we are in October. All of these guys have pretty significant goals and they're willing to do the work to get there."

Captains Named

Seniors Max Williamson, Tom Kremer and Spencer DeShon, along with junior Patrick Conaton, will serve as team captains for 2016-17.

"Our main goal is to shoot for the top at NCAA's – we want to challenge ourselves with huge goals and put in the daily work that reflects those goals," said Williamson, who also praised the quality of the incoming class. "The freshmen are in a great position to be able to learn from the top performing guys already here, but are already extremely talented in their own right. They will make great additions to an experienced and already-talented team."

Kremer, a five-time All-American including third in the 200-yard freestyle at the 2013 NCAA Championahips, returns to Stanford after taking a year off to train for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

"Having Tom Kremer back will be huge for us. We struggled without his contributions last season, and our performance was less than we expected," said Knapp. "Although we had a lot of lifetime best times, the points weren't all there at the end of the day, and having that leadership back in the team is going to make a big difference for us this year."

Notable Returners

Ten All-Americans from last season return for the Cardinal, including:

• Liam Egan (800 free, 500 free, 1,650 free)
• Sam Perry (50 free, 100 free, 200 free relay, 400 free relay, 200 medley relay and 400 medley relay)
• Abrahm DeVine (200 IM, 400 IM)
• Spencer DeShon (200 free relay, 400 free relay)
• Ryan Dudzinski (200 medley relay, 400 medley relay)
• Matt Anderson (200 medley relay, 400 medley relay)
• Andrew Liang (400 medley relay)
• Curtis Ogren (400 IM)
• Bradley Christensen (1-meter)
• Ted Miclau (platform)

Defending Pac-12 Champions

Individual titles from Egan and Perry and an all-around team effort propelled Stanford to its first Pac-12 Conference championship since the 2011-12 season.

The win, Stanford's first since Knapp took charge of the program prior to the 2012-13 season, is the 63rd such title in program history. The Cardinal earned top-three finishes in 12 of 18 individual events, winning three, and had a podium finish in each of the three diving events.

Perry won two individual events, the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle. Egan finished second in the 500-yard freestyle before winning the 1,650-yard freestyle on the final day, essentially clinching the trophy for Stanford. The Cardinal dominated the individual medleys, taking three of the top four spots in the 200-yard IM and four of the top seven in the 400-yard IM. 

Academic Leaders

Twenty-one Stanford swimmers and divers earned academic recognition from the Pac-12 Conference, including graduating senior Ryan Arata, who held a league-best 4.03 grade-point average while majoring in mechanical engineering. Fellow senior Gray Umbach, the Pac-12 Swimming and Diving Scholar Athlete of the Year, was not far behind with a 3.99 GPA in chemical engineering.

Tarek Abdelghany, Ryan Arata, Christensen, Sean Duggan, Jeff Garnier, Miclau and Gray Umbach were named to the first team. Christian Brown, Justin Buck, Connor Kuremsky, Daniel Le, Wesley Olmsted and Jimmy Yoder made the second team, while Patrick Conaton, Spencer DeShon, Egan, Andrew Liang, Curtis Ogren, Perry, Danny Thomson and Maxwell Williamson were honorable mentions.

Sixteen were selected College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America Scholar All-Americans, as announced by the organization in June. 13 Cardinal made the first team, including Abdelghany, Arata, Christensen, Abrahm DeVine, Ryan Dudzinski, Duggan, Garnier, Kuremsky, Miclau, Perry, Umbach, Williamson and Yoder. Le, Olmsted and Jack Walsh also claimed honorable mentions.