GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Senior Gage Mandrell (Lititz, Pa./Manheim Township) won a share of the gold medal in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:48.09, which was good enough for an NCAA Division III Championship provisional qualifying time, and earned four medals overall to highlight the Washington College men's swim team's performance at the 2023 Centennial Conference Swimming Championships, hosted by Gettysburg held Thursday night through Sunday evening at Bullets Pool.  The Shoremen finished fifth overall with 330.5 points and had five individual medals and one relay medal.    

2023 Centennial Conference Championships

Medal Winners
- Mandrell on Sunday night in the final of the 200 backstroke, trailed Gettysburg's Nick Cox, the reigning conference champion in the event, for nearly the entire the race and by .74 of a second heading into the final 50 yards.  The senior swam a 27.72 in the final 50 yards to tie Cox at 1:48.09.  The two now share the conference and championship record.  Mandrell is the first gold medalist from WC since Andrew Feeley '21 won gold in the 200 backstroke in 2020.  Earlier in the day in the preliminary round of the 200 backstroke, he set a then program mark and an NCAA provisional qualifying time (1:48.95). In the 200 individual medley, Mandrell improved on his school record mark with a time of 1:52.27 in the preliminary round, 1.13 seconds better than his previous best.  In the final, he bettered on that mark by .33 seconds with a mark of 1:51.94 as he earned bronze.  The senior earned bronze in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:41.62, improving on his school record time by .44 of a second. 
- Zach Affeldt earned silver in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:02.22, which is .64 of a second faster than his best time entering the weekend of 2:02.86.  The result was also good enough for an NCAA Provisional Qualifying time.  Affeldt was fifth in the 200 individual medley (1:53.21), improving his best time in the event by .28 as he is second in team history in the event.  He was also sixth in the 100 breaststroke (57.30), improving on his third best time in team history by three-quarters of a second.
- Chase Hensen captured the bronze in the 100 breaststroke with a school record time of 56.39 on Saturday.  In the preliminaries, he set the school mark in 56.53 before breaking it in the final.
- The 400 medley relay team won a bronze as the squad of Mandrell, Hensen, Bianti Danaj and William Schmidt finished in 3:23.80.  Mandrell moves up two spots to second in the program's 100 backstroke Top 10 with a time of 50.84 leading off the relay.

Other Shoremen Top Individual Performances
- Shane Brace was fourth in the 200 butterfly (1:55.15) and is now fourth in program history.
- Danaj was seventh in the 100 butterfly (51.36) on Saturday and on Sunday was 14th in the 100 freestyle (47.10).
- Schmidt landed a 14th place finish in the 100 backstroke (53.46) on Saturday, which is good enough to rank seventh all-time at Washington.  On Sunday, he was 16th in the 100 freestyle (48.05). 
- Jay Dadhania placed 15th in the 100 breaststroke (59.32) after becoming the fourth fastest swimmer in team history in the preliminary round (58.28) on Saturday.  In the 200 breaststroke on Sunday, he was 13th (2:13.68), which is good for 10th all-time at WC.
- Justin Fitzpatrick moved up to fourth all-time in the 100 butterfly (51.02) in the preliminary round on Saturday and finished eighth in the final round (51.40).
- Justin Morris placed 15th in the 200 backstroke (1:59.37) on Sunday and 16th in the 100 backstroke (54.92) on Saturday.
- Grayson Wright landed in 16th place in the 200 butterfly (2:02.29).
- Patrick Downes earned a 16th place finish in the 1650 freestyle (17:21.79).
- Joey Bond garnered a 16th place finish in the 200 breaststroke (2:15.65).

Other Shoremen Top Relay Performances
- The 200 medley relay quartet of Schmidt, Hensen, Danaj and Mandrell took fourth place in 1:32.71.
- In the 400 freestyle relay, the team of Mandrell, Danaj, Schmidt and Hensen finished in fifth place in 3:08.83.
- The 800 freestyle relay team of Affeldt, Fitzpatrick, Morris and Jack Poleto placed fifth in 7:13.63.  Affeldt's lead-off time of 1:45.35 places him 10th all-time at WC in the 200 freestyle.
- Fitzpatrick, Dadhania, Affeldt and JB Peterson were 13th overall in the 200 freestyle relay (1:28.09).

Notes
- #25 Swarthmore won the event with 868.5 points, finishing 93 points ahead of host Gettysburg who had 775.5 for second place.  Franklin & Marshall was third with 521 points followed by Ursinus, who had 449.5 points.  Spots five through seven were Washington (330.5), Dickinson (211) and McDaniel (130).
- Final selections for the 2023 NCAA Division III Championships will be announced on Monday, February 27, at 8:00 p.m.  Affeldt's provisional qualifying time in the 200 breaststroke and Mandrell's provisional qualifying time put them in contention for a potential spot.  The Championships will be held March 15-18 in Greensboro, N.C.
- Washington College has captured gold in the 200 backstroke in four of the past five conference championships as Feeley won three straight from 2018-20.  The 2021 conference championships did not take place due to COVID.
- Mandrell, who now holds the school record in four events (100 and 200 IM, 200 Backstroke and Freestyle) and is in the Top 10 in 11 different categories, is the team's lone senior.