Repeat champions, relentless ambition

George Goins ’28 says he knows how “crazy” the goal sounded when he and his incoming classmates discussed it in the fall of 2024.

The Denison men’s swimming and diving team already sets a high bar. Goins and his fellow Class of 2028 competitors don’t want to just clear that bar — they want to raise it.

“A week into our freshmen season, we were like, ‘Hey, let’s win the NCAA title four years in a row,’” Goins said.

They’re halfway to fulfilling a remarkable dream.

The Big Red won their second consecutive Division III NCAA Championship and seventh overall in Indianapolis in March 2026. They accumulated 437 points over the four-day event to outpace New York University (388.5 points) and the University of Chicago (353 points).

Denison was led by swimmers Goins and Jack Hill ’27, and diver Nick Fogle ’26, each of whom won two individual titles.

Among the Big Red individuals and relay teams earning first-team All-American honors — achieved by finishing top-8 in a finals event — everyone except Fogle is an underclassman. Translation: Goins’ lofty aspiration is not without merit.

“We’ve put ourselves on the top of the podium twice,” he said. “That much momentum can help us have the confidence to be on the podium for years to come.”

Asked about his team’s ambitions, coach Gregg Parini smiled.

“I told them, ‘You gotta win three before you win four,’” said Parini, who’s also led Denison’s women to two national titles.

Parini believes winning breeds complacency, not success. That the Big Red men have won back-to-back championships three times (2011-12, 2018-19, 2025-26) is a testament to the relentless drive of the coaches and athletes.

The only Division III men’s programs to three-peat are Kenyon College, Emory University, and Johns Hopkins University. Denison hopes to elbow its way into that exclusive club.

“As I’ve said before, it’s easier to be the hunter than the hunted,” Parini said. “We had the bullseye on our back all season. That’s why repeats are so difficult. Not only is everyone gunning for you, but you are competing against yourself, your own expectations.”

The hallmark of great champions is the ability to win in different ways. That was showcased over the past two years.

The 2025 champs were driven by senior leadership and team depth. They had 19 athletes qualify for the NCAA meet and won it without placing first in a single individual event or relay.

The 2026 titleholders qualified just 15 athletes and relied heavily on their star-studded, younger athletes.

Hill set national records in 100- and 200-yard freestyle races and placed second in the 200 individual medley. He was named College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America Swimmer of the Year. Goins captured the 500 and 1650 freestyle events — breaking a 14-year school record in the latter. Hill and Goins were also members of the national-record-setting 800 free relay along with Harry Parsons ’27 and Nick Hensel ’27.

“We lost a lot of seniors from last year’s team,” Hill said. “So we needed younger guys who were on that team to step up. It was a prime opportunity for us to show what was possible with our individual swims. Ultimately, it was about pushing yourself and pushing others around you to raise the level.”

On the third day of competition, the Big Red were dealt a potential hammer blow to their title aspirations. The outstanding 200 medley relay team was disqualified for having a swimmer leave the block a fraction of a second early.

The miscue opened the door for NYU, which won the relay and had a bevy of top swimmers scheduled for Day 4 events.

But given the scale of adversity the Big Red faced during the course of the season, they were well-equipped to keep the disappointment in perspective.

“We attended way too many memorial services this year,” Parini said.

Few outside the program knew how much grief coaches and athletes had endured. Five people with various ties to the Denison program or its individual swimmers had passed away during the academic year.

The one that hit closest to home was the wife of associate head coach Kellen Beckwith. The couple married on Aug. 24, 2025. A month later, Beckwith was dealing with the death of his wife, Jamie.

The program rallied around Beckwith, who kept coaching through the loss. His mantra was: “I’m not OK, but I’m managing.”

“Kellen has been so strong,” Hill said. “We all could see what he was going through, but he still gave us 100 percent. He’s a role model.”

The coaching staff believes that building a championship-level team is about more than physical exertion in practice. It’s about developing a proper mindset to deal with issues as they arise.

Katie Sprague ’01, a swimmer on the 2001 women’s NCAA championship squad, serves as the director of team culture development. Fogle, who won the 1- and 3-meter diving competition and was named CSCAA Diver of the Year, likes how the Big Red emphasize this important intangible.

“We have these meetings where we come in, and we talk about things as a team,” Fogle said. “I think this is one of our bigger advantages. We talk about our approaches to practices, our team mentality, and whatever needs to be discussed.”

The Big Red secured the 2026 title with a strong fourth day. Goins opened the finals session by winning the 1650. Hill delivered a victory in the 100 freestyle before joining Cam Blevins-Mohr ’29, Parsons, and Hensel to finish second in the 400 free relay.

The Big Red were cheered on by more than 300 fans, the largest supporters group of any in Indianapolis. The program’s alums faithfully show up for big meets. Goins was reminded of this when he checked his phone after swimming the 1650 in a school-record time of 15:04.33.

His first message was from Allen Weik ’14, the previous record holder.

“Al kept reaching out through the entire meet,” Goins said. “He kept leaving me inspirational messages like, ‘You can do this,’ and ‘Do it for the team.’ That was pretty cool.”

As the athletes and assistant coaches celebrated the title on the pool deck, Parini took a moment to savor the scene.

“Just watching the guys come together and enjoy themselves after finishing the task on Saturday night was awesome to see,” the coach said. “It was a great way to bring closure to a season that’s been very challenging.”

It was a job well done, but in the minds of his determined athletes, a mission only half-complete.

“The amount of work we put in, and the amount of progress this team has shown, I honestly think it’s possible,” Goins said. “I think it’s 100% possible this team can win four in a row.”