FOREST, Va. – The Emory & Henry College Men's & Women's Swimming Teams will get the 2017-18 season underway on Saturday at the ODAC Relays. With the start of the campaign the Old Dominion Athletic Conference has released the preseason coaches' poll for the women's field and a season prospectus for the men.

The Women
The Wasp women have been tabbed to repeat their third-place finish from a year ago. The team returns seven letterwinners and welcomes four newcomers to a program which has produced 23 ODAC Champions in its five years of existence.

"Being picked third is a great honor," commented Head Coach Cody Skinner. "The swimmers that we are returning mixed with our newcomers should give us a strong chance at pushing for second at the ODAC Championship. We are excited to continue the success that this program has seen over the past five years."

Washington and Lee University is once again picked to win the league following its seventh-place showing at the 2017 NCAA Division III Women's Swimming Championship. Randolph-Macon College is second followed by E&H. Bridgewater College is fourth followed by league newcomer Roanoke College.

The Men
Emory & Henry is one of five teams embarking on their first men's swimming seasons in what is possibly the largest single-year sport expansion in league history. The Wasps have five men on the roster with versatile swimming backgrounds, who will look to leave their mark in the E&H history books.

"This is an extremely exciting time for swimming in the ODAC with so many new men's programs joining the league," Skinner added. "We are proud to be one of those new programs and hope to make our mark in a conference which we feel will become extremely competitive very quickly."

W&L has won all three ODAC Championships since the sport was first sponsored 2015, and is the favorite to continue its grasp on the postseason hardware. With five new teams joining the league, doubling the field, a preseason poll was not conducted this season.

The ODAC Relays, which will feature men's competition for the first time this year, will be held at the Washington and Lee Natatorium on Saturday beginning at noon.

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