The Capital Athletic Conference will have five representatives at the 2009 NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Swimming Championships which begin March 19 in Minneapolis, Minn., including 2009 CAC Swimmers of the Year senior Brie McDowell of St. Mary's College and sophomore Stephen Clendenin of the University of Mary Washington.

McDowell will be joined in the women's championship meet by junior teammate Rachel Hotchko and Mary Washington sophomore Sarah Crockett.

In the men's competition, Marymount senior Greg Murtha will represent the CAC along with Clendenin.

McDowell, Hotchko and Crockett are all seven-time qualifiers for the 2009 All-CAC Women's Swim team. 

McDowell captured gold medals at the CAC Championships in the 200 individual medley, 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke and contributed to four first-place relay teams.  She is the only St. Mary's student-athlete ever to win the CAC Women's Swimmer of the Year Award twice (also in 2007) and just the fifth to win the award twice in the 19-year history of the CAC.

McDowell, who earned All-CAC honors in each of her three seasons at SMC, is the only swimmer to earn All-America recognition from St. Mary's.  In 2007, McDowell placed ninth in the 100 backstroke at the national championships.  She holds eight individual school records for the Seahawks.

Hotchko, who will be making her second appearance at the NCAA Championships, holds both SMC records in the butterfly.  She captured top honors at the CAC Championship in the 100 butterfly, 200 butterfly and finished second in the 50 freestyle.  

She placed 44th in the 50 freestyle, 29th in the 100 butterfly and 25th in the 200 butterfly while competing in the 2008 NCAA Championships.

Crockett, the 2008 CAC Rookie of the Year, won the 500 freestyle, 200 freestyle and finished second in the 100 freestyle, helping UMW capture the conference team title for the 19th-straight year.

On the men's side, Clendenin was a six-time All-CAC qualifier and Murtha qualified for the All-CAC five times at the 2009 conference championship meet.

Clendenin, the 2008 CAC Men's Swimming Rookie of the Year, was named the 2009 CAC Men's Swimmer of the Year after winning gold medals in the 200 individual medley, the 400 individual medley and the 200 butterfly - all in record-setting performances. He also contributed to three medal-winning relay teams, helping UMW capture its ninth-straight CAC title.

He took the Men's Swimmer of the Year award back to Fredericksburg, Va., for the seventh time in the last eight years and the 11th time in the 19-year history of the championship.  Clendenin is just the third person to win the Rookie of the Year and Swimmer of the Year awards.

Clendenin advanced to the NCAA Championship for the second-straight year.  He finished 17th in the 400 IM and 20th in the 200 backstroke at the 2008 NCAA Division III Men's Swimming and Diving Championships.  His time of 1:53.82 in the 200 backstroke was a personal career best at the time.

Murtha, making his first trip to the NCAA Championship, captured top honors in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly and finished second in the 100 freestyle, helping Marymount to fifth place in the team standings. 

Murtha, also a member of the Saints' golf team, won the 100 butterfly at the CAC Championships and earned All-CAC recognition in each of the last three years.