GREENVILLE, S.C. – Wingate University has been picked to win the Conference Carolinas championship in the 2026-27 Men's Swimming & Diving Preseason Coaches’ Poll.
Five schools, Catawba College, Carson-Newman University, Lenoir-Rhyne University, Mars Hill University, and Wingate University, are new to Conference Carolinas this year as associate members in men’s and women’s swimming.
Wingate was picked atop the poll with 86 points and nine first-place votes, while Catawba was picked second with 65 points. Carson-Newman and Lenoir-Rhyne came in third and fourth with 56 and 53 points, respectively. Emmanuel University received the final first place votes and 51 points to come in fifth.
Converse University (46), King University (39), Mars Hill University (26), Barton College (18) and Chowan University (10) rounded out the poll.
The 2026-27 Conference Carolinas Swimming & Diving Championships are scheduled for Tuesday, February 2 through Saturday, February 6 at the Kingsport Aquatic Center in Kingsport, Tenn.
The preseason poll was voted on by the league's head coaches, and they can't vote for their own school.
2026-27 Conference Carolinas
Men's Swimming & Diving Preseason Poll
|
School |
Points (1st Place) |
| 1 |
Wingate |
86 (9) |
| 2 |
Catawba |
65 |
| 3 |
Carson-Newman |
56 |
| 4 |
Lenoir-Rhyne |
53 |
| 5 |
Emmanuel |
51 (1) |
| 6 |
Converse |
46 |
| 7 |
King |
39 |
| 8 |
Mars Hill |
26 |
| 9 |
Barton |
18 |
| 10 |
Chowan |
10 |
2026-27 Conference Carolinas Men's Swimming & Diving Players to Watch
Barton
- Landon Berghoff, Fr., Summerville, South Carolina
- Chris Kafitz, Sr., Salisbury, North Carolina
- Gavin Woolet, Fr., Goldsboro, North Carolina
Carson-Newman
- Gabriel Morales, Sr., Orlando, Florida (2026 three-time All-South Atlantic Conference first team, 2026 South Atlantic Conference Male Swimmer of the Year, 2026 South Atlantic Conference Championships Male Swimmer of the meet, three-time NCAA Swimming & Diving All-American)
- Samuel Valenchski, Fr., Brazil
- Gabriel Catapano, Jr., Sao Paulo, Brazil (2026 two-time All-South Atlantic Conference second team and one third team honor)
Catawba
- Eryk Osobka-Morawski, Fr.., Warsaw, Poland
- Alessandro Bre, Jr., Paris, France
- Jan Pera, Fr., Klodawa, Poland
Chowan
- Dimitrije Markovic, Sr., Krusevac, Serbia (Two-time All-Conference Carolinas third team)
- D'andre Blanchard, Sr., St. Lucia, Florida
- Michael Greenier, So., Miami, Florida
Converse
- Henry Stockton, Jr., Colorado Springs, Colorado (2026 Conference Carolinas Swimmer of the Year, 2026 five-time All-Conference Carolinas first team, 2026 All-Conference Carolinas third team, 2025 Conference Carolinas Freshman of the Year, three-time 2025 All-Conference Carolinas first team, two-time second team and one third team honors)
- Joey Lilly, Jr., Greer, South Carolina (2026 three-time All-Conference Carolinas first team and two-time third team accolades, 2025 All-Conference Carolinas first team, two-time second team and one-time third team honors)
- Jay Owens, So., Central, South Carolina (2026 All-Conference Carolinas first team)
Emmanuel
- Arda Hulagu, Sr., Antalya, Turkey
- Hayden Lester, So., Titusville, Florida (2026 All-Conference Carolinas third team in the 200 yard backstroke)
- Yagiz Ari, Sr., Ankara, Turkey
King
- Cristobal Amiel, So., Lima, Peru (All-Conference Carolinas second team in the 200 and 400 yard freestyle as well as 800 yard freestyle relay and 200 yard medley and 400 medley relays)
- Carlos Arias, So., Guadalajara, Mexico (2026 Conference Male Freshman of the Year, All-Conference Carolinas first team in 200 yard backstroke and 200 individual medley, All-Conference Carolinas second team in 100 yard breaststroke, 400 and 800 yard freestyle relays and 200 and 400 yard medley relays)
- Fabio Ricci, So., Piacenza, Italy (All-Conference Carolinas second team in 400 and 800 yard freestyle relays as well as 200 and 400 yard medley relays, All-Conference Carolinas third team in 200 yard freestyle)
Lenoir-Rhyne
- Judah Hall, So., Spring Hope, North Carolina
- Wyatt Herger, So., Charlotte, North Carolina
- Brooks Higginbotham, Sr., Auburn, Alabama
Mars Hill
- Jakub Szpaler, Jr., Szczecin, Poland
- Harris Diamantidis, So., Corinth, Greece
- Evangelos Daniil, Sr., Thessaloniki, Greece
Wingate
-
Yassine Sebatta, Jr., Temara, Morocco (2026 All-America first team in 200 yard freestyle relay, 400 yard freestyle relay and 800 yard freestyle relay)
Vladimir Krstulovic, Jr., Budapest, Hungary (2026 All-America first team in 200 yard freestyle relay and 400 yard freestyle relay)
Arons Roderts, Fr., Marupe, Latvia