The University of Mary Washington men's and women's swimming teams have accepted membership in the Metropolitan Collegiate Swimming and Diving Conference, and will begin competition in the league starting with the 2020-21 Championships, according to Director of Athletics Patrick Catullo.

The Metropolitan Collegiate Swimming and Diving Conference (METS) is one of the largest intercollegiate swimming and diving conferences in the United States. It includes NCAA division I, II, & III teams, primarily from the New York metropolitan region. Teams compete at an annual three-day conference championship held at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey in February, and includes schools such as The College of New Jersey, Rowan University, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, and St. Francis University.

Competing in the MET will help our teams to continue to improve on the national level, and qualify more swimmers for the NCAA Championships. Being competitive at the national level and competing for national titles, is our ultimate goal. 

"The Metropolitan Conference offers an incredible depth of competition", said UMW Head Men's and Women's Swimming Coach Justin Anderson. "That depth comes from 18 women's teams, and 15 men's teams from Division I, II, and III. Our Eagles will be pushed to compete like they never have before. That level of competition, will undoubtedly make us better and faster. "

Besides the depth of competition offered by the Metropolitan Conference, there is also elite competition within the conference. The Eagles will gain the opportunity to compete in one of the top Conferences in all of Division III. The Met is home to four teams, including UMW, who consistently rank in the Top 25 of the collegeswimming.com and CSCAA national rankings.

Joining the METS conference will also provide an exciting recruiting opportunity as it will expose UMW swimming to a new group of recruits from the New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and New England Metropolitan regions on a regular basis.

"There has never been a more exciting time to be a UMW swimmer, coach or alumni", said Anderson, a 2010 UMW graduate. "The Metropolitan Conference's high level of competition will provide all the student-athletes on our team with the most competitive conference championship experience any UMW swimmer has ever had. As a result, our teams will be more competitive on a national level. We can't wait to dive head first into this exciting new chapter for Mary Washington swimming."