GREENSBORO, N.C.  -  Six Coast Guard cadet-athletes will represent the Academy this week at the 2025 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving National Championships, all coming from the men's side of the Bears swim team.

"The conference meet was an encouraging weekend for the six men heading to the NCAA Championships," says swimming team head coach John Westkott. "The guys are looking forward to representing the Academy in Greensboro, and hopefully they'll bring home some hardware!"

Leading the group is Sean Lyman (Pennsburg, Pa.), who returns to the national stage following his excellent showing at the NEWMAC Championships. Named by the conference as this season's Men's Swimmer of the Year, Lyman qualified for the 500-yard freestyle, 400-yard individual medley, and 1,650-yard freestyle. The senior is the 12th seed in the 500 Free, the seventh seed of the 1650 Free, and is one to watch in the 400 IM as the event's third seed. Lyman was recognized as an All-American in the 400 IM and 1650 free at last seasons championships.

Also returning to nationals with Lyman is fellow senior and All-American Colin Twiss (Mahwah, N.J.), who qualified for the 200-yard, 100-yard, and 50-yard freestyle events. Twiss has a case for the 200 Free as the second seed and is the 13th seed of the 100 Free, while also having a chance to move up in the 50 Free as an extra swimmer. He'll look to defend his All-American title in the 200 and 100 Free.

"It will be a nice way for Sean and Colin to end their Coast Guard swimming careers. Both have improved a great deal since their freshman years," says Coach Westkott.

Rounding out the individual qualifiers for the Bears, and making his nationals debut, is Noah Reice (Wilmington, Del.). The sophomore had a great performance at the NEWMAC Championships in his own right as he qualfiied for the 100-yard and 200-yard butterfly events and will compete alongside Twiss in the 100-yard freestyle. The sophomore could be a surprise in both butterflies as the fifth seed in the 100 and the sixth seed in the 200, while being the 12th seed in the 100 Free.

Outside of individual competition, Coast Guard has qualified four teams for relay events. Kacper Buniowski (Bridgewater, N.J.) and Zach McGowen (Springfield, Va.) will join Twiss and Riece in the 200-yard freestyle relay; alongside McGowen, Reice, and Twiss in the 200-yard medley relay will be Luke Giguere (Belchertown, Mass.); the 800-yard freestyle relay will feature Lyman, Reice, Giguere, and Twiss as the seventh seed; and the 400-yard freestyle relay team will be made up of Reice, Buniowski, McGowen, and Twiss as the twelfth seed.

This year's event is taking place over a span of four days, starting tomorrow, March 18th, and ending this upcoming Saturday, March 21st. Each individual and relay event final will feature 16 competitors and teams, respectively. Good luck to these six cadet-athletes in their respective events!